Elements of the Original Dragon
by MarigoldWolf
Summary: AU. Going out and adventuring should be all fun and games, right? Not for these teens. Getting caught in one world crisis after another, their journeys are FAR from normal. Especially when one has to find a way to bring back the original dragon of the Tao Trio. Rated T for now. Yusei/OC, boyxboy. (On hold for rewrite)
1. Rising Concerns

**A/N: I am SO going to take a risk and shove this out here alongside the _Dragon Booster/Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_ crossover...and a future one later...welp, here goes nothing! I will say that I'm using the same (human) OCs like with the _Dragon Booster_ crossover. Since I've revealed only one (plus the name of another), the names for the others are Eric (Ren's best friend), AJ (Ren's twin sister), and Jazz (full name is Jasna; more of a rival than Eric is). I'll put at the end of each chapter the characters' teams (including ones for the _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_ characters). If I manage to get up to the Alola portion of this story before November, it'll go on hiatus until I've played through the games...a few dozen times X'D I'll also mainly do this story by first person point of view unless I say otherwise (like for an important scene or anything).**

"..." = human speech

" **..."** = Pokémon speech (translated depending on character)

 _Italics_ = thoughts

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon or _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_. They go to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 1- Rising Concerns:**

(Yusei's POV)

"Wait, you want me to come with you to Kanto?" I asked.

"Yep, pretty much," Ren replied. There wasn't a whole lot that I knew about him. Other than he had beaten the Kalos and Johto leagues before falling off the radar after four of the Kanto badges were won. The way we met was...well, he was running from some thugs that were after him and Argen and I stepped in to help (the thugs didn't even bother trying with a giant Luxray glaring down at them). Now he's straight up asked me to join him going back to Kanto.

"Why?"

"Well, it does get a bit lonely when you're the only human among a bunch of beings that literally bend the elements at will...even if I can understand what they say..."

"I get the feeling that's not the _only_ reason."

This time, he took a look around us to make sure there wasn't suspicious eyes. Then he sighed and turned back to me. "Okay, I'm also needing someone that's strong to watch my back should something come up. Especially since it's about this." He rolled up his sleeve covering his right arm.

My eyes widened. I leaned a bit to get a closer look. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, a Legendary's mark. Or rather, Legendaries'. From what I could gather on these, this eye represents the Vast White Pokémon Reshiram-" He pointed to the dragon's eye that had flames around it. "-the Deep Black Pokémon Zekrom-" He pointed to the dragon's eye that had a lightning bolt around it. "-and the Boundary Pokémon Kyurem." He pointed to a third with ice surrounding it.

"What about the middle one?"

"I dunno. There's only three in the Tao Trio. Maybe it's supposed to represent the mythical 'original dragon' that the three had comprised."

"Is that why those thugs were chasing you?"

"More or less. The people who they're working for want to, ahem, 'protect' me from unsavory folk, but I know it's a ploy to let my guard down so they can use the dragons for themselves. Once they've reawakened of course."

"And you think I'm going to be enough to help?"

"Well, not a lot of people are able to say they won an entire tournament with only ONE Pokémon, can they?"

"You know about-?"

"Jazz likes to keep me posted on a lot of what happens here since I've been trying to keep out of this place as much as I could. Just in case there's anyone interesting to battle here. So, are you in or out?"

I thought about the offer for a few seconds. On one hand, I could build a proper team than have Argen fight all the battles. There were some close calls during the tournament since he was having to go up against not only Ground-types but other types that were resistant to Electric-type moves. On the other... "What's the catch?"

"Pardon?"

"Other than you being protected, what's the other motive for inviting me along with you? I heard you only have either close friends or family with you on these journeys."

Ren gave a bit of a shrug. "Well...like I said, I get a bit lonely for human company every now and then. Besides, I can't involve the others with me right now. Whoever these guys that are chasing me are, they're more than likely going to use any type of way to get me to come with them. Willingly or not."

"And you're _sure_ that's the only other reason?" I looked him in the eyes to make sure he wasn't lying to me.

"I'm positive." He didn't get shifty-eyed or even tried to look away.

I sighed. "Alright. We'll come with."

He broke out into a grin. "Sweet! I'll meet you downtown in the morning tomorrow."

"Downtown? Why not the docks?" About the only way from New Domino City to any of the regions was either by boat or by plane. And out of the two, it's cheaper to go by boat.

"Don't worry. I've got an alternative way to get us to Kanto easily. Gotta meet up with my sister in half an hour right now, so I'll you see then!" He picked up his bag and one of his newer partners, a Tepig, and took off.

"Lux..?" Argen asked, looking up from where he was laying.

"I've got a weird feeling about his alternative transportation, Argen..."

"Luxray."

(Scene Shift- Ren's POV)

"What? Ren, what the hell? Asking a complete stranger to go with you back to Kanto! Are you insane?!" my sister, AJ, yelled in my ear. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were out again, so I was able to stay for the night until I could leave. I explained what happened with Yusei to her and...well...let's just say that I sometimes think I'm wrong with saying I'm the older twin out of the two of us.

"Jeez, announce it to the whole world, why don'tcha?" I mumbled, rubbing my ear.

"I'm serious, Ren. You don't know anything about this guy. And it's _not_ because of him having been in the Facility for whatever either."

"Look, you know I can feel what people are thinking and I did when I was talking with him. He felt...I dunno, just really calm and all that. I didn't get any bad vibes from him. Not even from his partner."

"Still..."

"I know, I know. You want me to be careful I've done good this last year, haven't I?"

AJ gave a small smile. "I suppose. I just...I don't want to see you hurt again, not like with..." She stopped herself and even I fell silent for a bit. It was hard to even think about what happened...but it had. I could barely think about it without almost having a panic attack.

"Well...maybe with this guy, I won't have to worry so much about watching my back all the time. I can start taking it easy and go back to how I was."

"Okay. Just don't do anything stupid like get involved with some world-ending chaos or whatever."

"Hey, come on. Not like I can _avoid_ these things. They always find me one way or another."

(Scene Shift- Next Day- Yusei's POV)

I waited for Ren at the rendezvous point. I don't have any clue why he'd want to meet up here rather than the docks. Was he traveling on some large Pokémon that could fly or swim? Wouldn't surprise me since a lot of the people who have Legendary's marks tend to be able to call the Legendary that their mark represented. Except...didn't he say that those haven't woken up yet?

Ren came running up not too long after I had. He bent down a little, resting his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. "Holy shit, I didn't think I could make it..." he muttered.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah yeah, just kind of overslept..." He took a deep breath and straightened up. "Okay! Off to Kanto, then!"

"We're going to have to hurry if we're going to catch the next ship to Kanto. It's in half an hour." Even if we hurried, we wouldn't have the right amount of time to buy tickets unless Ren got them beforehand.

"We're not taking a boat."

I looked at him, confused. "A plane?"

"Nope."

"If we're not using a boat or a plane, how are we getting to-" I stopped when he pulled off the gold bracelet on his left wrist and held it up. "What?"

"We're going to travel via Hoopa ring."

What?! There's no way that's a legit Hoopa ring! "You're not serious, are you?"

"Totally. How do you think I can easily go from one region to the next within less than a day? Can't exactly call on the Legendaries just yet."

"But how did you...?"

"Long story, very complicated. We better get going since I've got a match against Sabrina in an hour."

 _...well this is certainly going to be an interesting journey..._ I thought as Ren threw the ring in the air. Before it could even hit the ground, it stopped about three feet above it and expanded. The inside now had a dark purple interior, much like the pictures of the rings at some of the Mirage Spots. Ren stepped through, poking his head out a moment later. "You coming?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied, still a bit dazed. He pulled his head in right as I stepped through. Before I knew it, I was standing right in the middle of Saffron City in Kanto. Thankfully, we hit a spot that didn't have people around at the moment...or we'd have a lot of explaining to do.

The ring shrunk back to its small size, hitting the ground with a small clang. Ren picked it up and slipped it back onto his wrist. "Always handy to have a portal to carry around."

"If you travel by those portals, how did..?"

"Honestly, no clue how those goons always find me. I think they must have agents in every part of the world and are told if I'm possibly in the area." He pulled out one of the Poké balls on his belt, letting out a Furret. The Furret let out a purr and then climbed onto his back, wrapping the tail and most of the body around Ren's waist. "Oh yeah, say hi to Felix."

"Furr," Felix purred.

"Hello," I replied, letting Argen out of his ball. The Luxray yawned, stretching his front legs.

"Well, time to fight against the Saffron Gym. You ready to handle this, Fel?"

"Furret!"

"Then let's get going."

(Scene Shift- Saffron Gym)

"Felix, finish this with Shadow Claw!" Ren commanded.

The Furret managed to dodge another of Sabrina's Alakazam's attacks and struck the Psychic-type with a paw covered in a dark purple aura. The Alakazam staggered a bit before falling backwards, knocked out. The screen blared a sound like a horn and showed Ren as the victor of the match.

 _That was...a rather quick match,_ I thought from the sidelines. While Ren did use more than just one Pokémon, it was still not a long match even against some of Sabrina's stronger Pokémon. _That was all under five minutes, too._ _Not even the battles at the tournament were this quick. This is only his second trained team! Did he get this good in only three years?_

"Whoo man, I was sure I was gonna crack with that Mr. Mime," Ren sighed, walking up and snapping me from my thoughts. Felix had wrapped himself around Ren again, the Furret's head resting on top of Ren's.

"Is that the reason you haven't gone to Kalos in so long?" I teased.

"Shut up." I chuckled.

"That was an excellent battle, Ren Mori," a new voice stated. We looked to see Sabrina had walked up. "Though, I wish you hadn't been so hasty through the whole thing."

Ren scratched the back of his head, wearing a sheepish grin. "Sorry. Having a late start on my journey's made me want to hurry things along so I can get to all the regions I can."

"I see...well, I hope you take care. Especially with that mark of yours." _Wait, what? How did...Ren's mark is covered up! Did he tell her prior to the match?_ "You as well, Yusei Fudo." She walked off after that.

"Okay, how many people know of your mark, anyway?" I asked as soon as we stepped out of the gym.

"Only you, AJ, my best friend Eric, and Jazz. And my 'mons, of course. Then again, psychics tend to be able to sense that kind of energy around, so that may be why," he replied with a shrug. "Speaking of that, how come you didn't tell me you had some sort of mark?"

"I...don't. I haven't seen anything appear on any part of my body."

"Huh, that's weird..."

"Aren't you supposed to be able to tell who have these marks, anyway, Ren?"

"Ehh...not exactly. See, I can sense if someone has special powers per say if the powers are active. If no mark's come up, then I won't be able to tell. Eric could, probably, since he can actually sense the auras of people and Pokémon. We could ask him sometime and see if there's something dormant in you."

"I think I'll pass. I've already had a lot of crazy things happen to me in the past."

"Oh really? I bet mine are weirder."

"Considering what I've read in articles about you, I don't doubt that."

"Hey!"

(Scene Shift- A Few Hours Later)

We traveled out of Saffron and stopped on the route just outside of Fuchsia for the night. Ren let out not only the Pokémon he caught in Johto but his Kalos team as well. It seems he keeps a theme of having teams with mostly physical attackers, but who's to say he won't change that in the future. Still, it's interesting to see that he doesn't always use the strongest Pokémon he can find.

"Man, I'm going to be passing out before I finish the Kanto challenge," Ren groaned, falling face first onto the sleeping bag.

"Then why not slow down," I replied.

"No way! I'm already so close to finishing it! Besides, I'm already way behind as it is."

Behind..? Oh, right. He started when he had just turned fifteen, five years past the normal age. "Well, it's not going to do you much good if you get too tired to finish." I settled onto my own sleeping bag.

Ren sat up on his elbows, glaring at me slightly. "What are you, my mom?"

"Lux!"

"Ty! Tyran!"

We looked up to see Argen playing tag with some of Ren's Pokémon. It looked like Ren's Tyranitar, Mason, was it and chasing after the others. They looked to be having fun. "So, what's the story?"

"Huh?" I turned back to Ren.

"You know, of how you got Argen. I doubt you got him as a giant Luxray."

I chuckled. "Well, all right. I found him when I was thirteen, washed up on the shore of Satellite as a Shinx. It looked like he had just been thrown into the ocean to drown. I took him to where I was staying, dried him off, and cleaned him up better. He was really skittish of me at first, but I managed to earn his trust after some time. He's been with me ever since."

"Wow..."

"Your turn."

"Eh?"

"Your turn to tell me how you met Cross. Everyone that's done an article on you can't seem to make up their minds on how the two of you met."

"Do I want to know what they put down?"

"It ranges from you rescued him from falling out of a tree to catching him with the only Poké ball you had on hand."

"Pff...I'm surprised they didn't just put down that I got him from Professor Sycamore, but no. It's none of those things. Cross was actually a present from my older half-sister when I turned twelve. I couldn't start training at the normal age of ten since I was getting sick a lot. My parents didn't want to risk losing their business heir. I didn't get into any big battles yet, just some between my friends and my sister. Anyway, long story short, I got into an accident one day when I was thirteen which caused my parents to put a ban on my going out to be a Trainer. I refused to listen to them and ran away once I hit fifteen. Been out doing this whole thing for little over three years now."

"Why not tell the reporters the truth, then? Instead of them making something up."

"No point to it, really. If they hear it's some boring tale of how Cross and I became partners, they'll throw it out the window and turn it into an interesting read. 'Sides, I'm not doing this whole thing for fame and fortune."

"Then why-?"

"I want to be able to show that every Pokémon is capable of being the strongest, not just the ones that have the best stats or the best abilities or natures. If given enough time and patience, then any of them can be the Pokémon of a Champion."

Well that rendered me speechless. I was sure that by Ren's slightly cocky attitude that he was like some of the Trainers that wanted only the strongest Pokémon they could find, only going for the ones that could easily beat a Legendary without breaking a sweat. Ren, though, wasn't like that. Sure, if I had seen only his Tyranitar or his Poliwrath before getting to know him, I would have thought that immediately. Not anymore.

"Anyway, I'm hitting the hay. 'Night." He crawled into the sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep."

"'Night." Our Pokémon came back to the small camp site after finishing up their playing. Argen curled up next to where I lay while the larger Pokémon Ren had circled the site, Ren's Aromatisse climbing onto his Nidoking's head to sleep. I got into my sleeping bag and slowly fell asleep.

(Scene Shift- Next Morning- Ren's POV)

" _No, stop! Stop it!"_

" _What are you going to do to make me stop? Huh? That's right, nothing. Because you're not strong. You're pathetic, kid."_

I sat up quickly in the sleeping bag, covering my mouth to stop the yell that was about to fly out. Dammit, I forgot to take those pills again...the ones that keep that memory away...

Looking over, I saw that Yusei was still fast asleep. Argen laid next to him, the Luxray having rolled onto his back and had his back legs twitching slightly in the air. I had to suppress a laugh. It was funny to see a Luxray who could look me in the eye STANDING UP (and I'm not short; I'm at least 5' 8'') acting like a little pet asleep. Quietly, I unzipped the sleeping bag and climbed out, making sure not to disturb the others asleep. Kind of hard to step over some since Mason is a normal sized Tyranitar.

Once stepping out of the camp site, I headed to where I could hear water splashing. I bent down at the side of the creek and splashed the cold water onto my face. _Five years and I still can't get rid of that incident. It seems to be coming back more and more lately. If I'm not careful enough with this...I'll have a lot of explaining to do with Yusei,_ I thought, splashing more water on my face. _Good Arceus, this is COLD!_

" **TACKLE FROM BEHIND!"** Felix yelled from behind me. With the force of the tackle, he landed us both in the creek.

"Felix! How many times have I told you not to do that!" I growled. He wrapped himself around me once I pulled us out.

" **Hmm...I've lost count after the twenty-fifth time."**

"Well, stop, 'cause at this point I'm surprise my spine hasn't snapped in half."

" **Aw, come on, you're tougher than that."** He patted my head with his paw while I pulled a not amused face.

 _I'm not so sure about that._ I sighed. "Well, now I'm going to have to wake up Percy so he can get this water off. Happy?"

" **Ehh...he needs to wake up anyway."**

(Scene Shift- Fuchsia City)

"Alright, time to get the sixth Kanto badge! Auri, you ready for this?" I said, looking at the Xatu next to me.

" **Aye aye, captain!"** she replied with a salute.

"Better hope there's not a Dark-type in there," Yusei said.

"Pff, nah. I doubt they'd have one of those in a Poison-type Gym...right?" Auri shrugged when I looked at her. "Well, last time I checked, Janine didn't have a Skuntank or Drapion, so I think we're good with spamming Psychic over and over."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"If using Psychic-type moves doesn't work...then I'm screwed."

He gave me an incredulous look. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Well...yes and no...I know Janine has a Weezing which has only the Psychic-type weakness thanks to stupid Levitate. If Auri goes down, I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope Naomi can finish up the battle."

"...remind me not to have you as my coach when I start doing Gyms."

"Hey!" Auri and Argen both snickered, trying to keep the laughs covered up with a wing and paw respectively. "Okay, wise guy, I'll show you that my plan can be fool proof and that Plan B doesn't need to take effect."

We walked into the Gym...and of course, like I've heard, there were multiple Janines all over the place. For Arceus's sake. "Of course...they ALL have to be disguised as Janine. Ah, well, at least it'll be quick to-"

" **Ren, wait! Don't forget about-!"** Auri tried to warn me, but I had already smacked right into the infamous invisible walls of the Gym. **"..never mind..."**

I backed away from the wall, turning back to them while holding my nose. "I dew I forgof somefing..." I muttered, my voice and words sounding weird with me holding my nose.

Normally, I'd find this hilarious...when it happens to someone other than me...or if this happens while I'm by myself. Now? Nope. And of course, Yusei, Auri, and Argen started laughing after I talked. "Ohh, fook you guyz!" I growled, only making them laugh harder.

(Scene Shift- Two Hours Later- Yusei's POV)

"Come on, I said I was sorry," I told Ren after we got out of the Gym. He's been ignoring me since the earlier incident of him running into the invisible walls.

"Hmph," he pouted, still not talking.

"All right, fine. Suit yourself." _He's being childish,_ I reasoned. _Still, at his skill level in strategy, he'd be able to easily take on some of the tougher Trainers back in New Domino. If he'd stay longer than a day, that is._ "Well your next Gym badge is in Cinnabar, right? We better catch a ferry to there."

"Err...that might be a bit hard to do.." he finally spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...Cinnabar's been...err, blown way by a volcano."

I glared at him slightly. "Now you tell me."

"Sorry! It slipped my mind! But thankfully, the gym's been rebuilt in a sense. It's just going to take a bit longer to get to. Besides, I've heard Blaine hasn't been doing scheduled matches because of the relocation, so we can just pop in at any time for the battle."

"If you say so. How far are we backtracking?"

Ren pulled out his electronic map. "Hmm...looks like the only ferry that can get us to the Gym's location is in Pallet Town. If we take the train from here to Pewter, we'll be able to reach Pallet by tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Well, let's get going then. The next train leaves in half an hour."

"Shit! I forgot! Let's hurry then!" _At least that's got him motivated._

(Scene Shift- Viridian City)

We managed to catch the train to Pewter City before it departed (I swear Ren had just about passed out once getting into his seat). Once there, we stocked up on a few items and then headed into Viridian Forest. Ren had already went through once, so he knew the shortcuts to get through quickly. The sun was only beginning to set when we got out of it.

Ren went off to book a room at a hotel while I sat back with Argen. Argen had his head in my lap, the rest of his body laying off the bench. I gave a sigh. "I'm so confused right now," I said aloud.

"Lux..?" Argen asked, looking up.

"Sorry, just talking to myself." The look in his eyes told me he wasn't buying it. "I don't know, I've heard that he, Ren, doesn't usually invite people most of the time when he's traveling. So to ask a complete stranger is a bit confusing." Argen rolled his eyes. "What? Would you like it if we were going with someone that we had no information about?" He gave me a hard look. I sighed. "Yes, I realize that's the same in our situation, but-"

"Lux!" Argen put his paw on my face, his way of telling me to quit talking.

"Really?"

Argen put his paw down and grinned. Then he got a stern look on his face. "All right. I'll talk to him about it once we get a hotel room." He gave a nod at that, settling back to laying down. _But, in the short two days since we met, I've found that Ren's easy to talk with compared to other Trainers that go out to travel the different regions. He may not seem to take the Gym challenges seriously, but once the battle starts, he switches to focusing solely on that, making sure to know when to attack and what attack. It's not just Gym battles either. Any battle against any opponent and he becomes a different person. Sure, he takes it easy on opponents that are at lower levels, but for the most part he goes for the quickest route to defeat opponents. And he tends to be impulsive whether he's focused on a fight or not_

My thoughts are soon cut off when I heard Ren walking up. "Ugh, man, seems like everyone's coming to Viridian now..." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Did you get a room?"

"Yeah, but it looks like we're going to be sharing a bed. It was the only one open."

"That's fine. Our Pokémon can sleep in their balls for a night."

"Slightly wishing we hadn't listened to the weather report on the train..."

Once there, Ren led the way to the hotel room. It wasn't small, but it wasn't that big either. Ren set his stuff down and immediately called claim to the shower first. At least that gave me time to think of how to word my thoughts to him carefully. _Just got to hope I don't offend him by accident._

(Scene Shift- ?)

"Well? Any luck?"

"No, sir. We couldn't capture Ren Mori."

"That is...unfortunate. I was hoping we could convince him to join the cause. Someone with a Legendary's mark of the three dragons would be beneficial. I suppose we'll stick with the original plan. And if he does come here...we'll have to take a more direct approach in getting him on our side."

 **A/N: ...hope this chapter was a good read! ^^' Still trying to nail personalities right, tbh...and the team's list for my OCs will reveal Pokémon yet to be shown in the story...I guess for that I'll put in Italics which ones have had an 'appearance' so to speak or mentioned ('cause Ren did have all of them out; they just weren't all listed). I'll say that once the region is changed, Ren will leave his other teams at his half-sister's ranch.**

 **TEAMS:**

 **-Ren: (Kalos) _Cross_ (Delphox; Quirky Nature), _Mason_ (Tyranitar; Hardy Nature), Ciel (Furfrou; Adamant Nature), Charlotte (Gogoat; Lax Nature), _Spirit_ (Aromatisse; Calm Nature), _Zach_ (Nidoking; Brave Nature); (Johto) _Naomi_ (Typhlosion; Hasty Nature), _Felix_ (Furret; Brave Nature), Ivan (Venusaur; Docile Nature), Ashley (Nidoqueen; Docile Nature), _Percy_ (Poliwrath; Brave Nature), _Auri_ (Xatu; Relaxed Nature)**

 **-Yusei: Argen* (Luxray; Jolly Nature)**

 ***Slightly based on two Luxrays I've trained in two different playthroughs with the same nature; also, to put his height in perspective, he can look Yusei or Ren in the eye _standing up_. So yeah, a LOT bigger than normal.**


	2. Trust is a Complex Thing

**A/N: Here be chapter two. Not much to say here other than it's going to be close to the end of the Kanto campaign (well, next chapter will be battle with Red and the aftermath). How'd y'all like that cliffhanger? XP Hope it wasn't TOO vague as to who was talking. Also, the list of the journey is (for what we see in the story, anyway) KantoUnovaHoennAlola(might be hiatus when I reach here and haven't done a playthrough of it yet). Ren has already finished Kalos and Johto (so to speak; if you've played through the games of the region, you know it's Johto-Kanto so to speak). Well, let's get to the next chapter, shall we?**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon or _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_. They go to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 2- Trust is a Complex Thing:**

(Ren's POV)

Ahh, I felt SO much better after having a shower. It's rather rare I stay in a hotel on a journey, but considering the only other option would be to sleep out in the rain and the thunderstorm...yeah. Better not risk getting struck by lightning while in a sleeping bag. That, and a good chunk of my Pokémon don't like getting wet.

"Okay, all done in the bathroom," I said when I walked out, using the towel to dry my hair.

"Ren, can I ask you something?" Yusei replied.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let someone you hardly know travel with you?"

"This again? I already told you that I miss having human company every now and then, but-"

"You don't want your friends to get involved with what's happening."

"Yeah, so why-"

"How do you know I'm trustworthy? I find it hard to believe that you failed to notice the marker on my face. So why trust me?"

I looked down. Okay, yes I did notice it, but I shrugged it off since I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. "To be honest, I did notice, but I didn't feel like it was a big deal. Especially with the vibes I got off Argen." I sat down on the bed.

"Vibes?"

"Yeah. I can kind of sense the feelings of Pokémon. It's not always clear, though, unless the emotions are REALLY loud and noticeable. Same with people. Argen's thoughts were protective of you, pretty much along the lines of, 'He says one thing bad, I'm biting his leg off.'"

"And you got _good_ vibes off of that?" He was giving me a weird look.

"Well, yeah. Normally Pokémon of villain teams tend to think along the lines of, 'I'll do as my Trainer commands.' That's pretty much a big red sign that they're only doing it to avoid punishment or they are brainwashed. Argen's thoughts were from a Pokémon that is really close to their Trainer, wanting to do anything to make sure their Trainer is safe. That's how I know if someone's really trustful or not."

"I see." He didn't sound too convinced...or was it 'cause it was hard for me to tell what he was thinking?

"If you're still not convinced, I'm also partly doing this to kind of heal scars of the past."

"What?"

"Remember the accident I told you about that made my parents ban me from becoming a Trainer? It wasn't anything like a car accident or falling out of a tree type of thing. There was a guy quite a bit older than I was picking on some other beginner Trainers with his Scizor. Although I only had Cross for about a year, I was sure we could take him on and get him to stop bullying the other Trainers."

"So you lost?"

"Actually, no. Cross and I won that fight...but that Trainer wasn't all too happy. Without even recalling his partner, he started beating me up until I was literally bloody and broken. I had to be thankful I had Jazz and Eric with me at the time, or who knows what could have ended up happening. They managed to get Security to pull him off of me and got me to a hospital in time. I stayed there for a couple of months, even after a lot of the injuries healed, just to make sure nothing else was wrong. I heard the guy's Scizor was released after that, not even looking back. I don't blame 'em. I felt a lot of shock rolling off of them before I was knocked unconscious."

"You're trying to prove to yourself that you can put your trust in someone you don't know to heal?"

"Yeah. I know it sounds kind of crazy, but I feel like it's the only way that could work. I used to be open to everyone growing up. Then after the incident...I just shut out everyone but my friends and sisters. I want to show myself that I can put trust in someone outside that little circle and not have to worry about getting hurt again."

He was quiet for a bit. Then, "Well, you're certainly an interesting one."

I looked at him, slightly offended. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He chuckled. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."

"Better not have. I'd be dropping your ass back in New Domino before you could blink."

"I know, I know." He got off the bed to head into the bathroom next.

I threw the towel off and leaned back onto the bed. It felt a bit better to talk about what had happened, even if I didn't go into the full detail of what went out. Especially with the real reason why I left almost two years after that incident instead of after I had healed up. _Even so, it's nice to be able to open up with someone even if it's a little bit. Maybe...Maybe then it'll be easier for me to invite people in..._

(Scene Shift- Next Day in Pallet Town)

"Okay, should be a quick trip on the ferry to the Seafoam Islands. That's where Blaine set up a temporary Gym until Cinnabar is rebuilt," I stated, looking over the map again.

"Who are you going to use for the match?" Yusei asked.

"Hmm...I'm planning to just use Ashley and Earthquake all the Fire-types, but I'll have Percy as a backup just in case. Should be easy either way if I stick to the plan."

"Sounds a bit better than sticking with only one or the other."

 _You're one to talk,_ I thought, sending him a slight glare. Once we got to the docks, I noticed that there were a lot of people in the Ranger uniforms. "Hey, what gives?"

"A lot of Rangers are being sent out to Cinnabar to help with rebuilding. The ferry will stop first there before heading the the temporary Gym," one of the workers explained.

"Greeaaat."

"Nice to know you haven't changed much, Ren," a familiar voice spoke.

Turning around, I saw... "Ace!" I ran up to the Ranger. "What are you doing here?"

"Got dispatched to Kanto after the volcano blew. I thought you would have already gotten the Cinnabar Gym Badge by now."

"Uh, hehe...got a little side-tracked."

"Um, Ren?" Yusei said, making me realize that he was probably really lost right now.

 _Shiiit, I need to fix my one-tracked mind someday..._ I turned back to Yusei. "Oh, right. I forgot you didn't know him. Yusei, this is Daiki, also known as 'Ace' by the others. He's Jazz's older brother and a Pokémon Ranger."

"You also forgot to mention your old boyfriend, Ren."

"Oh, yeah, there's that...

(Yusei's POV)

Ren turned a bit red, scratching behind his head after muttering that. An old boyfriend? They must have parted on good terms if they're talking like close friends. Ace had dark blue hair that was covered up at the top with a green bandanna, the bangs spiking out from under it. His eyes were a warm amber color. He wore the Oblivia Ranger uniform.

"Wait, where's Tem- SHIT!" Ren had started when he was tackled down by a Typhlosion. "There's Tempest..."

"Come on, Tem. Don't crush him," Ace chuckled.

"Ty Ty," the Fire-type replied, getting off of Ren. Now that I think about it, Tempest looked a bit smaller and sleeker than Ren's own Typhlosion Naomi.

Ren got up from the ground. "My back's going to be throwing out before I hit thirty..."

"Sorry. Guess it has been a while since Tempest last saw you."

"Yeah, and back then he was only a little Quilava."

"Well, let's hurry onto the ferry before it leaves without us. Shouldn't have too many Rangers on board anyway."

"Don't want that," I said aloud.

(Scene Shift)

The ride to Cinnabar Island was a bit interesting. Ren and Ace talked for almost all of the ride while I sat back with Argen. They were mainly catching up with each other, but they also talked a bit about their past from what I could catch. I had to wonder why they would break up. It didn't seem like they just didn't get along well enough. And it couldn't have been a bad break up either if they talked so easily with each other. Then why..?

"Oh, that's right. Are you taking the League Challenge here too, Yusei?" Ace asked.

"Uh, no, not really," I replied.

"Then why-?"

"Well, Ren said he wanted to have some human company while traveling through this region. And he's also been getting into some trouble." Ren's face pretty much screamed, 'Did you have to tell him _that_?' once I mentioned the last part.

Ace looked back at Ren. "Don't tell me you've gotten mixed up with those Team Rocket goons again. Or is it Team Flare?"

"It's neither! Jeez, I'm not that much of a trouble magnet!"

"I'd beg to differ. Though, considering what you got into when we were kids, I think I'd prefer the former over the latter."

"Shut up!" Ren playfully pushed Ace who laughed.

(Scene Shift- Seafoam Islands)

Ace had gotten off the ferry at Cinnabar Island since he was needed there to help with rebuilding efforts. He and Ren exchanged numbers to keep in touch. The ferry continued to the Seafoam Islands, the destination of the next badge for Ren. Even being outside in the sun, you could feel the cold air flowing out of the cavern.

"Geez! Is it supposed to be spring or winter?" Ren shivered when another cold draft hit.

"You'd think they'd pick a place that's not associated with Ice-types," I added.

"Yeah, well, according to some of the other Trainers, Blaine didn't want to be stationed too far from Cinnabar in case they needed a bit of guidance." Ren pulled out a jacket from a storage device, putting it on over his long-sleeved shirt.

"By the way...why didn't you have Ace travel with you? If you two are that close..."

He paused. "I know what it looks like, but we're not dating anymore. We broke up some months back because things weren't working out with his Ranger job and my own difficulties. We figured it'd be best to part on good terms than to wait for something to blow up between us."

"I see." Well, guess that explains a lot between them. But was Ren talking about him nearly dying to that Trainer five years ago...or something else? For someone so open, he hides a lot of secrets.

Once reaching the Gym 'area,' we found it surprisingly empty. "Uh...aren't there supposed to be Gym Trainers around here?" Ren muttered.

"Don't look at me. I'm still not used to the whole Gym battles just yet."

(Scene Shift- A Few Hours Later)

"Maaan...I was sure I'd freeze my ass off if we stayed longer," Ren groaned as soon as we stepped out. Blaine had finally got back (apparently, he had gone with the Gym Trainers to Cinnabar and we didn't realize it until they got back) and the Gym battle started. Ren just used his Nidoqueen Ashley to defeat the entire roster.

"Where's the next Gym?" I asked.

"Viridian. Let's just hope the Leader is there 'cause I've heard he's almost NEVER there."

"And he's a Gym Leader...how?"

"I've heard he was the shortest lived Champion before his rival came and defeated him." Huh, sounds very familiar. "And anyway, he can't use his entire Champion team since they're a bit too tough for some Trainers to handle. That, and he had given said rival his starter to keep an eye on him."

"Care to enlighten me of their names?"

"Gym Leader Blue and Red."

"Wait, is that the same Red who..?"

"Yeah, supposedly waits somewhere for a worthy opponent to defeat him...and you're looking at the guy who's going to do it."

"Ren, you do know this is the same guy who basically single-handedly took down Team Rocket a few years back."

"I know."

"Then why-"

"Go searching for him? Like I said, I want to show that any Pokémon can be strong if given a chance. If I can beat Red with the team I put together from Johto and Kanto, then I'll be a lot closer to showing that to others. 'Course...that doesn't mean I'm not scared shitless at the thought of going up against that strong of a Trainer."

I chuckled. "Well, that's true."

"Oh right! Before that, we should try to get you a couple of party members. We can train them up while I prepare for a battle against Red. Got any ideas on what you want on the team?"

"Not really."

"Well then, what type would you like to look for?"

I shrugged. "Dunno."

He glared at me. "Seriously, man? There's over 700 known Pokémon in the world, of one or two of eighteen different types, and you don't know what you want to add to your team?!"

"Any louder and everyone will be able to hear you in Antarctica. And yes, I'm serious, Ren. There wasn't a whole lot I could do except have only one Pokémon where I lived at. It's not like I could keep a whole team of six."

Ren sighed, running a hand through his short dark brown hair. "Okay, good point. Then is there a certain route you want to go?"

"I guess it really doesn't matter. Probably at least one or two members who can counter Argen's weaknesses. Argen might have Ice Fang, but some of the Ground-types we faced had pretty high defenses and weren't quad-weak to Ice."

"That's a start, anyway. We should try to look for Grass or Water Pokémon. Flying could work, but a lot of Ground-types tend to either have a resistance to Flying-type moves or good enough defenses to counteract them. Of course, there aren't many options for native Grass-types here in Kanto or even Johto, so we might be looking for a while going that route."

"What about Water-types?"

"In my experience, no matter the region, they tend to be EVERYWHERE, so we can start there. I'll bring up a list of the native Water-types here and see if there's one that catches your eye."

"Okay."

(Scene Shift- Viridian City- Night)

Ren booked a room at a better hotel when we reached Viridian City. He booted up his Pokédex and handed it to me before retreating to the shower. I flipped through the entries of Water-type Pokémon he had registered in it. So far, nothing was sticking out to me.

"Lux Lux?" Argen asked, looking up from his spot on the floor.

"I'm not having much luck here, Argen. We might be waiting until Ren moves on from this region to another at this rate," I replied.

"Lux Luxray."

"Well I don't want to impose on him for too much longer. He'll eventually want to be alone again, so we're going to make sure that we have at least one other team member." I paused when I spotted a Water-type that looked like an orange weasel. "Huh? This looks promising." I brought up the data. "Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokémon. To dive, it deflates the flotation device on its neck. Its twin tails can propel it through water and can slice through seaweed."

"Ray?"

I showed him the picture of the Pokémon on the screen. "What do you think, Argen?"

"Lux Lux." He nodded his head.

"Well, let's hope Ren knows if they're possible to catch here."

"What's possible to catch?" Ren asked, almost making me jump. "Oops, heh. Sorry. Just got out."

"I can tell. Anyway, I may have found a possible Pokémon."

"Really, what?" He looked at the screen. "A Buizel, huh?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if they even come to Kanto or Johto."

"Hmm...well...I know they sometimes migrate here for certain times of the year...which starts tomorrow. We might be able to find you one several hours before my Gym match."

"Well...we don't have to get one before you fight Blue..."

"Nonsense! It's not like we're going to be doing anything else before then. Gives a way to burn some hours." He dug in his bag and pulled out the map. "If I'm right, there's at least one group that heads to Route 6. We could head for Saffron City and then head to the route and be back with a good amount of time for the Gym."

"Do you normally go this far to help someone?"

"You should see how I am when I'm adamant about catching a certain Pokémon for my team."

(Scene Shift- The Next Day- Kanto Route 6)

Once stepping out of Saffron City, we were on Route 6. Like Ren had said, there was a group of Buizel near a river. Some of the younger ones curiously looked at us from a distance. The adults quickly shooed them back closer to the river when they got too close to where we were.

"Okay, well, we're just going to have to check if there's one around that doesn't mind joining with a Trainer," Ren stated.

"How are we going to be able to tell that? Not everyone can understand what Pokémon say," I reply.

"Best way to figure that out is one of them jumps at us when they see that we're Trainers. Not all wild Pokémon want to be caught and trained, so they avoid Trainers at all costs. The ones that DO want to join a Trainer will jump out at one walking around."

"Got a plan, then?"

"How about a little spar? Best way to show off your strength as a Trainer is through a battle."

I smirked. "Sounds good to me."

(Normal POV)

Ren and Yusei got a bit ways away from where the Buizel were at, but not too far off where they couldn't be seen. Ren sent out Cross to fight against Argen. The Delphox was certainly not amused to fight the giant Luxray.

"Del Del Del Delphox!" Cross yelled back at Ren.

"Oh, come on. It's just a friendly battle," he replied. Cross huffed. "Look, I'm not going to switch in for Mason or Zach. Yusei's a friend, so we're going to do it like this as with Jazz or Eric. And look at it this way. Argen is just as cuddly as Mason is and you know how shocked people are about a Tyranitar acting like that."

"Phox..."

"Great! Just try to keep your flames from hitting the trees."

 _Ren, you SO are going to owe me for this,_ Cross thought as he got into a fighting position. Argen did the same.

"You can have the first move, Yusei."

"Alright then. Argen, Crunch!"

"Lux!" Argen charged forward, his mouth glowing with a dark energy to prepare for the attack.

"Cross, lean backwards and avoid his teeth!"

"Del!" Cross did as Ren instructed, leaning back enough to where Argen couldn't reach him with his teeth.

"Now, Shadow Ball!"

"Argen, watch out!"

A bit too late as Cross fired a Shadow Ball point blank at Argen's exposed stomach. The Luxray flew back to his place in front of Yusei, not even close to being knocked out of the fight. He shook himself and stood back up, letting out a loud roar.

 _Jeez, that's a tough Luxray. Can see how he won a tournament with just him,_ Ren though, eyes a bit wide. He snapped out of it and focused on the fight. "Cross, go for another Shadow Ball!"

"Argen, use Iron Tail and cut through the attack!"

Argen jumped into the air, his tail glowing. Cross launched another Shadow Ball just as the Luxray leapt off the ground. Right as the shadowy blob was about to hit him, Argen front-flipped and sliced right through the attack. He then brought down the glowing tail onto Cross who managed to block it with an arm. Even if his defenses weren't all that good, the attack barely did any damage.

"Don't tell me you're going that easy on me," Ren called.

"Not a chance. Use Crunch!"

"Wait, what? Cross, get out of there!"

The Delphox tried to pull back, but Argen was still too close to fully dodge. His teeth made contact with Cross's shoulder, inflicting major damage to the Fire-and-Psychic-type. However, the battle was far from being over.

 _Man, just when you think he's backed into a corner, he counters with twice the power. If he's this good with just ONE Pokémon, he'd be almost unstoppable with a full team of six,_ Ren thought as the battle paused for a second for the two Trainers to come up with a strategy.

 _I better be on my toes for this. Argen's taken damage from that Shadow Ball earlier. And knowing Ren, he'll probably use an attack that'll take advantage of Cross's Blaze ability,_ Yusei thought. _Well then, time to end this._ "Argen, Spark!"

"Flamethrower, Cross!"

Cross sucked in a breath and spat out a line of flames while Argen charged at him covered in electricity. When the two attacks collided...something strange happened. The flames seemed to almost merge with Argen's Spark attack which changed from blue to red to silver. _What the hell?_ both Trainers thought before the attacks caused a small explosion.

"Cross?!" "Argen!" Ren and Yusei called as the smoke obscured their vision.

As the dust cleared, both Pokémon were lying on the ground covered in small scratches and bruises. Slowly, they stood up on shaky legs. Cross fell down to the ground, fainted, and Argen followed not a minute later. Their Trainers ran to their sides.

"Cross, you okay?!"

"Argen, can you get up?"

"Del..."

"Lux..."

Ren and Yusei looked up at each other. "We've got to get them to the Pokémon Center, stat!"

"Right." Both returned their first partners and made a dash for Saffron, not even noticing they were being followed.

(Scene Shift- Saffron City Pokémon Center- Ren's POV)

I sat on one of the benches while the doctors were checking over Cross and Argen. Yusei went to go get some drinks while we waited. The ending to the battle, when the two attacks collided and seemed to change Argen's Spark attack, was still stuck in my mind. I've never seen that happen before, and I've seen a _LOOOT_ of weird stuff. Hell, Cross has used his Flamethrower attack to block Spark attacks before, so why did...?

"Here, I got us some water," Yusei said, handing me a water bottle.

"Thanks," I replied, taking it. He sat down next to me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes when he asked the question I was dreading. "What happened out there?"

"You mean with the climax of our battle? I have no clue. I've heard of a lot of different things happening when two attacks collide, ranging from small explosions to both Pokémon being knocked out to steam covering the field, but I have no damn clue on what happened. Has that happened before when you had Argen fighting?"

"No. Even during some intense fights, that's never happened. I've never even heard it in any stories that I'm aware of."

"Well great. Guess we're going to have to jot that down with other mysteries that can't be explained."

"Seems like it."

"Ren Mori and Yusei Fudo?" a nurse called.

"Yeah?"

"Your Pokémon are both doing just fine now. It seems like they were mainly exhausted after launching intense moves. They'll need a few days of rest, so try not to have them in any Gym battles or battles in general. You got that, boys?"

"Yep." "Sure thing!"

Once the doctor walked away, I glanced at my watch. "Shit, I better get going...but I don't want to leave Cross in case something comes up..."

"I can stay here."

"But-"

"Look, you're one step closer to fighting against Red. Cross will understand." He put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll call in case something comes up, okay?"

"...okay..." _I've got to trust him...I've just got to. I have no reason not to, after all. And he's been really patient with me. So why am I still holding back on him?_

 **A/N: And there's chapter two, folks! One chapter away from closing the Kanto arc and heading for Unova when shit REALLY hits the fan XD I'll just say this, things will get interesting once we get into Unova. Also, Ren is NOT getting together with Ace. I did mention that this would be a Yusei/OC fic, so Ren and Yusei will be getting together later on. Ace was mainly created to be a character that helps him relationship wise and to help heal him after certain events (also for slight drama, but we'll get to that later on). For now, a response to my first review of this story!**

 **AngelFaux: Thanks! ^^ I'll try to keep this as interesting as possible. As for when the boy x boy stuff happens, give it a couple chapters and it will. Though, I'm going to keep it kind of between PG to PG-13. The only reason I could see to changing this fic to being 'M' would be Ren's potty mouth XD And violence.**

 **-Ren: (Kalos) _Cross_ (Delphox; Quirky Nature), _Mason_ (Tyranitar; Hardy Nature), Ciel (Furfrou; Adamant Nature), Charlotte (Gogoat; Lax Nature), _Spirit_ (Aromatisse; Calm Nature), _Zach_ (Nidoking; Brave Nature); (Johto) _Naomi_ (Typhlosion; Hasty Nature), _Felix_ (Furret; Brave Nature), Ivan (Venusaur; Docile Nature), _Ashley_ (Nidoqueen; Docile Nature), _Percy_ (Poliwrath; Brave Nature), _Auri_ (Xatu; Relaxed Nature)**

 **-Yusei: Argen (Luxray; Jolly Nature)**

 **Well, before I cut out...how about a sneak peek of the start of some Yusei/Ren stuff? Warning, spoilers (and in Yusei's POV):**

"Ren-" I tried to start consoling, but he pushed me away a bit and failing miserably.

"No! I trusted him! And he...he left me! He _promised_ he wouldn't do anything to hurt me! So why...why did he..." Ren's grip on my jacket tightened slightly and loosened, his whole form shaking. "..why did he..."

I didn't know what to really say. He was in such a sensitive state that if I even attempted to console him now, he'd snap in a second. I instead pulled him closer to me. He didn't try to push me away this time. He was still shaking, hiccuping between sobs. "Ren, I know I didn't know _ as well as you did, but I doubt he'd want to see you in such a state right now. He told you not to be so hung up on the past, right? To keep going and make your dream a reality?"

His grip tightened again, indicating he had heard me, so I continued. "That's why you _need_ to keep going. Not only to protect the ones you care for, but the ones _ cared for as well."

Ren pulled back to look at me in the eye. "Yusei..."

"And I..." _Come on, it's now or never._ "..I want to be at your side when you do it. So, please, don't give up now." _Dammit, why is it so hard to tell him?_

"I...I won't. Just don't leave me."

I smiled a little. "I promise I won't." I brushed away some of the tears off his face, leaned in, and- [SNEAK PREVIEW END; TO BE CONTINUED].

 **...well, hope you look forward to more of this story!**


	3. Catastrophic Battle

**A/N: Heeeerrrreeee's chapter three! Also, this will conclude the Kanto arc (I know, pretty quick, but I'm trying to get through the regions before I get hooked into Sun and Moon). I will say that the majority is going to be focused on the Red battle 'cause my gosh THAT was HARD! Out of all the Pokémon, ONE gave me the most trouble. You'll find out in the fight scene.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon or _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_. They go to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 3- Catastrophic Battle:**

(Yusei's POV)

Once Ren left for Viridian, I went back into the Center and sat down. _I should call my friends back home. They know I'm out traveling right now, but I better tell them what just happened,_ I thought, digging into my pockets for my phone. Then I felt something touch my leg "Huh?" It was an orange paw connected to a Buizel.

"Bui Bui!" the Water-type cried.

"Did you follow us to the city?" A nod. "But why?"

"Bui!" A paw pointed to the Buizel and then to me.

"You want to join me?" Another nod. "Well, okay then. I am going to warn you, though, I'm not taking on any Gyms just yet." I pulled out a Poké ball. The Buizel tapped the button, making the Water-type disappear into the ball. "Guess I'll wait until Ren comes back to find out what to name you."

(Scene Shift- Viridian City Gym- Ren's POV)

 _Hope Cross is okay. Oh Arceus, if anything were to happen to him and I'm not there-!_ I thought before I heard Felix skid across the battlefield to stop right in front of me. _Crap, forgot to focus on the match!_

" **Oi! Can you keep track of the battle for more than five seconds?!"** Felix yelled at me.

"Sorry sorry!" I replied. _That's right. If I want to keep heading for my dream, I've got to stay focused in these battles. Otherwise, I won't get as far as I want to and end up not proving anything._ "Felix, get as close as you can and hit Gyarados with your strongest Slam!"

" **You got it!"** He darted for the serpentine Water-and-Flying-type, zig-zagging to keep the opponent guessing.

"Go for another Waterfall, Gyarados! Don't let them get too close!" Blue commanded.

" **Right!"** the Gyarados called back, lunging in for the attack.

However, before the attack could hit Felix, the Furret jumped into the air and brought his tail down on the Gyarados's forehead. That did enough damage to knock out the sea serpent. I let out a breath. _At least the strategy worked for a second time._

Blue recalled his fallen Gyarados. "Huh. Never would have thought a Furret could pack a punch like that," he commented.

"Well, I spent a lot of time training him to be as strong as he can get," I replied as Felix let out a 'Yeah!' in his language.

"Still, a loss is a loss. Here's the Viridian Gym badge." He tossed it to me. I caught it after almost dropping it. "I might also want to warn you that you'll need to change up your strategy for Pokémon battles."

"What's wrong with my strategy?"

"Trust me. Red wants to face a really strong Trainer, not just one that goes all kamikaze in battles and wins on the Pokémon's strengths alone. You're going to encounter a team full of Pokémon with _years_ of experience training in harsh conditions and battle. Hell, some of them can face against their _weaknesses_ and come out on top with ease. If you can't counter something like that, there's no way you'll be able to beat him."

"Hey now, if my Furret can beat a Gyarados TWICE, then-"

"We're talking about the same Trainer who beat Team Rocket years ago. He's not going to be a pushover. You're going to have to not only spend time training your Pokémon but also spend time coming up with strategies to go against what Red has in his arsenal. Even then, you'll have a low chance of beating him."

I was starting to get a little pissed off. "Then what does he have in his arsenal? At least tell me that if nothing else."

"I don't know about two of his Pokémon since he changes them out every now and then, but I do know he has Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, and Pikachu, no questions asked. And like I said, even with type disadvantages, they're strong. You'll be on your toes, that's for sure."

(Scene Shift- Saffron City Pokémon Center)

"Hey, I'm ba- why is there a Buizel here?" I said once I walked into the room.

"Seems like your idea of having a battle worked out. This Buizel followed us all the way here," Yusei replied.

"Huh. Have you thought of a name?"

"Not yet. I wanted you here in case he already had a name."

"Okay then." I bent down to the Buizel's level. "Hey there, little guy. What'd they call you back at home?"

" **Wait, why ask me? I thought humans chose the names for us,"** the Buizel replied.

"Yeah, well, I can understand what Pokémon say, so..."

" **That explains it. Don't have much of an actual name, but everyone back home called me Jason."**

I looked back up at Yusei. "He says he had been called Jason."

"Jason it is, then."

" **Wait, for real? That was quick!"**

"Yeah. So how are Argen and Cross doing?"

"They're still resting. Shouldn't be too much longer until they wake up and can be checked out."

"Alright. Well, I say we get a bite to eat and figure out what to do next now that the last Gym is out of the way."

"Okay."

(Scene Shift- Yusei's POV)

"So that's what Blue said?" I asked while we were sitting at a table.

"Yeah. He made it sound like it'd be one of the hardest battles I'll do in my entire life," Ren replied with a shrug.

"Wouldn't it?"

"Well, maybe. But I have confidence in my team, so there's no real reason to worry about it."

 _For someone who admitted they were scared of facing one of the strongest Trainers, they're acting rather nonchalant about it,_ I thought, shaking my head. "Well, it still might be a good idea to figure out some way to beat him. If he's as tough as everyone's been saying, you'll have to fight close to his level."

Ren sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Plus, I don't know what he'll have for two of his Pokémon. I know he has the fully evolved Kanto starters along with a Pikachu, but that doesn't give me much insight on his last ones. Hell, he could have a Mewtwo for a partner for all I know!"

"Then you'd really be screwed. That'd be worse than facing a Gyarados on a bad day."

"Says the guy who has a 'mon that-" Ren stopped all of a sudden, eyes going wide, and then clutched his head with his eyes squeezed shut. "Argh!"

"Ren? What is it?" I was starting to get concerned. Was he sick or stressed (kind of doubted the latter unless he was good at hiding it)?

"I-It's nothing. Just some..." He tried standing up out of his chair only to fall to the ground and curl up.

"Ren?!" I knelt down beside him when he hit the ground and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Make it stop...make it stop..." _Make it stop? Is he...having a flashback from when he almost died?_ People were starting to stare at the scene. I picked Ren up off the ground.

"Okay, I'm taking you to the hospital. Just hold on for a bit. Jason, stay close!"

"Bui Bui!" With that, we rushed off to the closest hospital.

(Scene Shift- Saffron Hospital)

"So you don't know what caused him to black out?" the doctor asked.

"Not...exactly," I replied. "I haven't been traveling with Ren for a while, so I don't exactly know if he has any illnesses or conditions to cause a black out."

"Hmm...well, we'll have to call up his usual doctors. He's from New Domino, right?"

"Yes." That much I _did_ know.

Once the doctor left, I sat down in the chair next to Ren's hospital bed. _Why didn't I think about him possibly suffering from PTSD? I mean, if you get beaten to the point of death, there's surely some form of long-lasting effects. I guess...it didn't cross my mind since he hardly seems the type of person to suffer from such a serious thing. Is he hiding behind a mask just to make sure no one knows what's really going on?_ I wondered as I looked over at Ren's sleeping form. He seemed to be a bit more relaxed now after that panic attack.

I leaned over a bit, brushing some of the bangs out of his face. _If you trusted me enough to have me travel with you...shouldn't you have told me about this? So I know what to do if you collapse like that? I don't like being left in the dark like this..._ I blinked, pulling my hand back and shaking my head. _What in the world are you thinking, Yus?! You've only known him for a few days! Maybe he just wants to keep a few things to himself. Besides...I'm still a complete stranger to him in the end of it. He's going to be more comfortable around the people he's known for years, like Ace._ I leaned back further in the chair. _What a fine mess this is turning out to be._

(Scene Shift- Few Hours Later- Ren's POV)

"Am I aloud to leave yet?" I asked in an annoyed tone. When I had woken up from blacking out, I found myself in a hospital room. Yeah, not a happy camper right now.

"I just need a word with you, Mr. Mori. I had Mr. Fudo leave to keep this information private," the doctor replied. "I contacted your doctor and he had me talk with your psychiatrist." I stiffened at that. "Considering what just happened, it's safe to assume that you've been relapsing lately?"

"It's just a few nightmares. Nothing really."

"With your condition, that can be more than just 'nothing.' I'd recommend going to seek treatment again as soon as possible. Especially since you're taking these League challenges."

"...right, got it..."

As soon as I got discharged, I met up with Yusei and we headed back to the Pokémon Center to pick up Cross and Argen. "What did the doctor say?" he asked while we were walking.

"Oh. Just...to be careful is all," I replied, trying to think of a way to bend the truth just a bit. I only told him about one of my traumas...he didn't need to know the other. Or, at least, not knowing he was burdened with someone like me who could breakdown at any moment for no reason.

"Okay..." Was that a convinced 'okay' or a I-know-you're-lying-but-I-won't-prod-further 'okay'?

I stretched my arms above my head. "Hope we haven't kept Cross and Argen waiting too long. They should be awake by now."

"Yeah."

I took a short glance at him. "You pulling the whole one word replies on me?"

"No, I'm not." ...sometimes I wonder whether he's sarcastic or being serious with me...

Once we got to the Center and into the rooms where our partners had been resting, I got tackled down by Cross with a cry of, **"YOU'RE BACK, THANK ARCEUS!"** from said Delphox.

"Ack, Cross...you're not...a Fennekin...anymore!" I managed to gasp out with him on top of me. And here I've heard Delphoxes don't weigh too much...I call bullshit!

"Feeling better, Argen?" I heard Yusei ask the Luxray.

" **Yep, totally! Hey, who's this?"** He must have discovered Jason by Yusei's side now.

" **I'm Jason, your new teammate!"** the Buizel greeted. **"And, wow your bigger than any Luxray I've seen!"**

" **Nice to meet you. I'm Argen. And thanks, I guess..."**

"So, where are we heading to?"

I lightly pushed Cross off of me, stood up, and brushed myself off. "Well, I'm going to have to do some heavy duty training for the next couple of weeks. Probably around the Mt. Silver area since I've heard the wild Pokémon there are supposed to be a bit stronger than normal. I can also help you train Jason on the side."

"I don't want to cause any problems in your training, though."

"Trust me, Naomi and the others know what kinds of moves to use if I tell them to go without instructions. You'll be needing help getting good strategies and counters with Jason. From what I could pull off the 'dex, he's still a bit under trained in battle compared to a lot of newly caught 'mons on that route. A few months of training and he'll be ready to even take on a regional League."

"You're adamant about this, aren't you?"

"Hey, gotta help someone who could give me a run for my money."

(Scene Shift- Base of Mount Silver)

Brrr! Why did I think it was a good idea to go to Mount Silver when fall was right around the corner again? Oh, right. Red's up there. And I've got to train for such an intense battle, too. Plus, I'm also helping out a fellow Trainer with a newly caught Pokémon. Never said I was one to take the easy path...or a simple one, at that.

"Okay, well, I think we're going to be staying in Johto for at least a few months. Naomi, you and the rest of the Johto-Kanto crew train up and cover each others' weaknesses, got it?" I told the Typhlosion.

" **You got it,"** Naomi replied, doing a salute.

"Zach, Charlotte, Mason, you three help them any way you guys can."

" **Mm-hmm,"** Mason nodded.

"Ciel, keep Cross and Argen from trying to train. Like, at all."

" **Shouldn't be that hard,"** the Furfrou shrugged.

" **You're mean, Ciel,"** Cross pouted.

"Spirit, you're helping me with Yusei and Jason, okay?" The Aromatisse nodded (forgot to mention this, she's mute; that's what the nurses at all the Pokémon Centers I took her to said anyway). "Alright, let's get down to it!"

Spirit hopped off of Zach's shoulder when he went with the others to help train the Johto-Kanto crew. I bent down to Spirit's level. "I'm going to have you take a few attacks from Jason, okay? Gotta work on his attacks a little bit." She gave me a thumbs up. I stood back up, Spirit walking onto the little battlefield. "Okay, any time you're ready."

"Right," Yusei replied. Jason stepped up to face Spirit.

I was still a bit nervous, considering what happened with the battle between Cross and Argen...but this wouldn't be a full on battle. More like a bit of practice to get Jason up to speed with regular battle trained Pokémon. He'll need it to be able to compete back at New Domino with how big battles are getting.

"Want to count down?"

"Might as well."

"Alright then. In 3..."

"2..."

"1..."

" _GO!_ " we both yelled as the two Pokémon jumped into battle.

(Scene Shift- 3 months later)

Stepping outside the cavern showed more snow. "Holy shit, it's cooold!" I shuddered, pulling the jacket tighter around me. No wonder I always pick a Fire-type starter...that's not the reason, I'm just kidding.

"Well, we _are_ on a mountain," Yusei replied.

"I swear, one of these days, I'm slapping the sarcasm right out of ya."

We finished up the three month long training session. Mount Silver wasn't the only place we trained, though. We went to and from Johto and Kanto whenever we felt like the wilds weren't enough. Or if we needed to get to civilization really quick. While there is a Center near the mountain, it's not exactly the best place to stay, being in the middle of nowhere almost. Our partners liked staying outside at least until it got too cold for most of them. Ciel even let his fur grow back to its original length and style.

During the time training, Yusei and I got to know a bit more about each other. I kept a few personal things to myself, though, since I don't like a lot of people holding it over my head (well, not in a mean way, more of I don't like people pitying me or acting like they have to watch over EVERYTHING for me; bugs the crap out of me when they think I'm breakable or whatever), but I let him know enough to where we weren't complete strangers like months ago. From what he told me about his life, I only seemed to really hate how some people from New Domino can be even more. I didn't like the rules that Trainers couldn't go over to Satellite no matter what...and of course I didn't listen to it. What can I say, I'm rebellious when I know something's not morally right. I'm just wondering how I never ran into Yusei before. Not a whole lot of Pokémon around and the place isn't too big. Just hope that bridge gets built.

There was quite a lot of times of us messing around instead of training, too. Since our first partners couldn't battle yet, some of the times we just talked or took a look around the area. I can't count how many times we started a short snowball war or water war and then have to run back to the Pokémon Center to keep from catching cold. It was...fun. I can't really recall a time when I had stopped to mess around and just relax, not worrying about the next Gym battle or the Elite Four or whatever.

Jason grew quite strong from the training and was getting close to evolution. He was a bit taller from when Yusei added him onto the team and slight whisker marks were appearing on his cheeks. If I had to guess, he'd be evolving by the end of the week at most. Spirit was laid back with the training, dodging when need be or taking an attack to test the strength of the Buizel. She and all the others deserve a long break from traveling at my side all the time.

"And how would you do that?" Yusei taunted. He didn't seem to be the type to taunt, but it was only playfully.

"Preferably with something that'd hurt," I retorted. I shook some of the falling snow off of my head. "Now, you might want to stand a good distance from the fight. It's going to be pretty intense."

"I'll stay by the entrance, close enough to run to you in case something goes wrong."

"Got it." Honestly, it was getting hard not to have flashbacks hit me or keep the nightmares at bay. I had accidentally woken him up a few times and had to lie to him, saying I thought I saw someone or a shadow move toward us. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he didn't press further.

I walked a bit closer to the figure standing not too far away. He had his back to us and I knew who he was (I don't know anyone who'd be crazy enough to stay up here in _this_ weather). "Hey, Red?"

He turned, not saying anything. I gulped. _Keep it together, Ren. You've faced Team Flare and Lysandre some years back. Just...imagine facing one of your friends._ I held up Naomi's Poké ball. "I challenge you to a battle!"

"...I accept," came the almost too quiet reply. He threw out a ball and out popped a Pikachu.

 _Pikachu, huh? That should be one of the more 'tougher' Pokémon according to what I've heard...his starter. Just go with the plan and Naomi should be able to take him out._ "Naomi, go!"

Said Typhlosion appeared in a burst of light and small sparks of flame. She let out a roar. **"Time for battle!"**

Snow was coming down heavily, making the battlefield's weather become a small hailstorm. _Well that's going to be rough..._ "Naomi, get prepared for a full-on Eruption!"

"Volt Tackle."

Naomi charged, managing to cut off the Electric-type before he could charge up enough power for the attack. She opened her mouth and a huge amount of fire came from it. Since she hadn't taken any damage yet, the power of the Eruption was at full blast. I had to feel a bit bad for being that harsh, but I knew that the Pikachu was only the start.

Red recalled his fallen member, looking a bit long at the ball for a bit before throwing out another. The next one was a Blastoise. "Naomi, return!" I recalled her. "Now, Ivan!" I threw out the Venusaur's ball and he appeared on the field.

" **Whew! No need to guess what season it is here!"** he said, shaking a bit.

"Sorry...anyway, Petal Dance!"

"Blizzard." _SHIT!_

Thankfully, Ivan was a bit faster than the Blastoise and took him out with one hit of the Petal Dance. Two down, four to go. I almost started getting a bit cocky...well, maybe a bit more than I let on. This was going easy...a bit _too_ easy.

He recalled the Blastoise and brought out a Charizard next. Okay, now this is where it starts getting a bit tricky. While I could send out Percy to deal with the Charizard, I know that they can carry Flying-type moves and pack a mean punch with them. But realistically...who else _could_ I send out? I needed to keep Felix in reserve to deal with whatever else Red had. Besides, he wasn't all too speedy, choosing power over speed...then again, neither was Percy...

I shook my head. _Well...here goes..._ "Percy, I choose you!"

The Poliwrath appeared on the battlefield in a burst of light. He rubbed his eyes a bit and took a look at his opponent. **"Ren...are you serious?"** he asked, turning back to me. **"Did you forget that Charizards are part _Flying_ -type?"**

"No, I didn't, but you're about the only one I can think of that could deal with this type of situation, bud!" I replied.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. **"One of these days, Ren...you're going to be the death of me..."**

(Yusei's POV)

Everything seemed to be going smoothly in the battle. Ren sent out his Poliwrath against Red's Charizard. Not the best match-up in retrospect, but it could be worse. Ren ordered for a Waterfall attack from Percy, but the Charizard was faster and attacked with Air Slash, flinching the Poliwrath.

"Shit!" Ren cursed, going to Percy's side to heal him. "Just hang in there, Per. You can take a few hits."

"Poli," Percy replied. He got back onto his feet, bringing his fists up.

The Charizard kept attacking with the same move, not missing once. The hailstorm was slowly draining Percy's willpower to where Ren recalled him. He sent out his Furret next, surprising the Normal-type. "Fur Fur?"

"Sorry, Fel. Can you hold out for a bit? Percy needs to rest up a bit," Ren explained.

Felix nodded, crouching onto the snow covered ground to prepare for an attack. The Charizard snorted, looking unimpressed. Felix growled a little. He jumped up, aimed his tail and smacked the Charizard hard on the head. The dragon-like Pokémon snarled, launching a powerful Dragon Pulse. Felix gritted his teeth and then hit with his tail again, knocking it out.

I bit my lip. _This isn't good. Felix has already taken a bit of damage. So far, Red's used all the Pokémon Ren found out from Blue. The next two could be anything,_ I thought. Red sent out a Lapras. _Okay, so it's part Ice. No hail damage. This could prove difficult._

"Felix, I'm going to have to have you take a few hits, okay pal?" Ren said to the Furret. "Bulk up a bit with Amnesia."

"Furr." The Furret concentrated, a blue aura surrounding him.

"Blizzard." The Lapras opened its mouth wide and sent out a blast of ice at Felix.

He was blasted off his paws and landed at Ren's feet. He was conscious, but barely. Ren returned him nonetheless. That Blizzard was powerful enough to be felt from where I stood. He sent out Percy again, now fully recharged and ready to fight. However, the Lapras was more than prepared. Its eyes glowed for a second before Percy was sent flying backwards almost into Ren. _Not good...that Lapras has a way to counteract even Fighting-types._

No matter what Pokémon Ren sent out, that Lapras could hit them with a type advantage. Blizzard or Psychic for Ivan; Hydro Pump, Blizzard, or Psychic for Ashley, his Nidoqueen; Blizzard for Auri; he couldn't even send out Naomi with that risk of a Hydro Pump at the ready. And who knows what move the Lapras had left ready to use.

I could see Ren was starting to panic. His shoulders were shaking, not from the cold either, and I knew he had a face that reflected the panic. _Red has enough in his arsenal to take on almost any opponent. I doubt someone like Lance could take him out. Is this the kind of thing I need to watch out for? I had trouble with just using Argen, but he managed to pull through and help us win. Except Red has spent years training his partners, even longer than some Trainers._

"Uh...um...maybe...no, Felix hasn't gotten his strength back...uhh..." Ren stuttered, trying to think who to send out next.

"Ren, just keep focus!" I called over. "You can beat him if you keep your head in the game!"

"Lux!" Argen called with me.

Due to the storm, I couldn't hear some of what Red spoke to Ren, but I managed to hear the last part of it since he raised his voice. "If you can't even get such a simple thing right, then you have _no right_ to be a Trainer!" he yelled. _What?! What's wrong with this guy?_

"Ren, don't listen to him. He shouldn't be the one to tell if someone should or shouldn't be-" I stopped when I noticed how rigid Ren was standing. Argen and I quickly got to where he was standing. "Ren? Ren, snap out of it!"

"Pathetic. There's no way you can defeat a Trainer with the wrong-" Before Red could even finish, Felix had burst out of his ball, fur puffed out in anger. He jumped, aiming his tail at the Lapras, and brought it down. The impact blew the snow under the Lapras's head (when it hit the ground) away to reveal the ground beneath it. He growled lowly.

" **How dare you talk about my Trainer like that!"** Wait, where did that voice come from? There was only the three of us and our partners...but only Ren could understand them, right?

Red recalled the fallen Lapras and sent out one more. A Snorlax. Felix retreated and Percy popped out next. "Are you going to prove me wrong or are you going to let your partners get hurt?" Red said.

"Ren, come on. Now's not the time to blank," I whispered, shaking his shoulders slightly.

"Snorlax, Giga Impact." The Snorlax started rushing toward Percy.

"Ren, come on! Whatever Red told you isn't true! Your partners know that, Ace knows that... _I_ know that! So prove the legendary Trainer Red that he's wrong by kicking his butt in the way Trainers know how to!"

That seemed to snap Ren out of his catatonic state. "Percy! Wake-up Slap!" he commanded.

"Poli!" Percy called back, bringing his fists up. The Snorlax's attack hit first, but it wasn't enough to take out Percy. Bringing back a fist, he slapped hard across the Normal-type's face. Snorlax staggered back and then crashed onto the snow covered ground.

Red recalled his final fallen partner. "Well...you beat me. Maybe you aren't such a lost cause." He walked past us, not even a glance at us.

I gave a small sigh of relief. "That took a few years off my life. Right, Ren?" He didn't answer. "Ren?" I walked from his side to standing in front of him. He suddenly fell forward onto me, having me catch him. " _Ren?!_ "

 **A/N: And that concludes the Kanto arc! Next up, we'll be having a short scene with Ren and Yusei back in New Domino before heading on to Unova...in a few months, more than likely. ^^' Unfortunately, I'll be busy playing _Pokémon Sun and Moon_ for a while as they have recently come out. I wanted to get this chapter out before I disappear for a while. I'll start it back up once college is taken care of (hopefully) and I've played through the new games a few times. Be seeing you!**

 **-Ren: (Kalos) _Cross_ (Delphox; Quirky Nature), _Mason_ (Tyranitar; Hardy Nature), _Ciel_ (Furfrou; Adamant Nature), _Charlotte_ (Gogoat; Lax Nature), _Spirit_ (Aromatisse; Calm Nature), _Zach_ (Nidoking; Brave Nature); (Johto) _Naomi_ (Typhlosion; Hasty Nature), _Felix_ (Furret; Brave Nature), _Ivan_ (Venusaur; Docile Nature), _Ashley_ (Nidoqueen; Docile Nature), _Percy_ (Poliwrath; Brave Nature), _Auri_ (Xatu; Relaxed Nature)**

 **-Yusei: Argen (Luxray; Jolly Nature), Jason (Buizel; Rash Nature)**


	4. Starting Again

**A/N: Heeeey. Been a while, huh? XD Well, got some time, so why not do another chapter? I know I've been neglecting some stories (*cough*Split Destinies*cough*), but I haven't fully gotten my muse back into them :/ Hopefully, it'll come back...actually, scratch that, I think it's slowly coming back XD**

 **Also! Quick question. I wasn't able to get to a scene between AJ (Ren's sister) and Kalin in the last chapter. Should I do a short oneshot of it in the story or refer to it in a flashback? Mainly wanting to know since I'm mostly keep this story in either Ren's POV or Yusei's. Even one answer will help me.**

 **PS- This chapter takes place somewhere between four to five months after the last one.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon or _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_. They go to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 4- Starting Again:**

(Yusei's POV)

"Yusei!"

"Huh? What?" I said, blinking.

"You zoned out again, that's what," Akiza replied.

I groaned, putting my face in my hands. "Sorry. I haven't been able to focus on anything very well."

"Still worried about Ren, huh?"

"...yeah. He hasn't gotten over the incident on Mt. Silver yet. Whatever Red had said to him has gotten under his skin."

"Has AJ said anything about his condition?"

"A few times. He's only been laying in bed after he got over that cold he caught. Not much different than before it, unfortunately."

"He'll get better. If he's anything like his sister, he'll be bouncing back with ten times the force."

 _I just hope you're right._

(Scene Shift- Ren's POV)

" **Ren, come on. Please get up,"** I heard Cross say. I could feel him laying his head on my side. **"It's been months..."**

" **Yeah, Unova's calling your name,"** Felix added.

I didn't reply to either of them. I couldn't understand why they want me to continue being a Trainer. Didn't they think I was a poor Trainer? That my training style did more harm to them than help? All the times they got hurt and were telling me "It's fine," or "Had worse hits than that," were they hiding what they really thought from me? _Red's right...I don't deserve to be a Trainer,_ I thought.

" **All right, that's it!"** I heard Ciel growl. **"Cross, move out of the way."**

" **Huh? Okay..."** I suddenly felt a weight land on my side, causing the air to fly out of my lungs. **"Ciel! What the hell?!"**

" **Hush while I smack some sense into our Trainer!"** Ciel rolled me onto my back so that I was staring at the angry Furfrou. **"Listen here, pal. This little self-loathing act has got to end. There's _nothing wrong_ with how you train us. Have we _ever_ , in the time we've spent with you, said that we hated it?!"**

"Well, no, but-" I stuttered before he cut me off.

" **But nothing! You trained us to be as strong as we can be, maybe even stronger than that! You always make sure it's a battle you believe we can handle, or it's opponents we can handle even if we don't take them out in one hit. That jackass Red is using his fame as an excuse to be rude. So what if he took out Team Rocket years ago? _You_ helped stopped them when they were trying to get themselves back into power and without using any of us in your Kalos team! If that doesn't mean anything to the big shots, then they can go jump off a cliff or into a volcano!"**

" **That seems a bit excessive, C,"** Cross muttered.

" **Well, I can agree with it. I might not be as fast as a lot of other Furrets out on the streets, but I can hit harder than most of 'em,"** Felix pointed out.

" **There, see? If Felix of all 'mons agrees with me, then you've got to see that I'm right."**

"But-"

" **Ren, be realistic. Who are you going to listen to? The partners you've trained throughout your journeys or someone who had been your idol and turns out to be a pompous jerk in the end?"**

"..." I gently pushed Ciel off of me and sat up. "I need some air." I pulled on some shoes and headed out.

" **Should we stop him?"** I heard Cross asked. I didn't hear the replies from Ciel or Felix as I got out of hearing range.

"Mac, come here." Said Tepig scampered up and I picked him up.

" **You okay?"** he asked, tilting his head up at me.

"I dunno. I just need to get out of here for a bit."

" **Okay."**

(Scene Shift- Yusei's POV)

"Lux?" Argen growled softly. We had just left the cafe since Akiza had to attend business elsewhere. He was looking at me while we were walking.

"I'm fine, Argen. Really," I replied, scratching his ears. "Just thinking."

He rolled his eyes at that. "Lux Lux." I didn't have Ren's ability to understand Pokémon, but I spent enough time with Argen to get what he was saying.

"Well, not like I can help it. Besides, a lot's happened the past couple of months."

"Ray." He nodded in agreement.

"I just hope Ren pulls out of his slump, though. And soon." I felt Argen nudge me. I looked down at him, and his eyes went off to the side. "What? No, it's a bit early to visit him right now."

"Lux Luxray."

"Come on, he's probably getting sick of us showing up every other day now."

"Ray Ray."

"You're going to be adamant about this, aren't you?"

He grinned and nodded while I sighed. "All right, fine. But if we get chased out by AJ, it's all your fault."

"Lux Lux." **"Yeah yeah."** I blinked, looking around at who said that. Argen stopped in his walk and turned to me. "Luxray?"

"Ah, nothing." _That's been happening more and more since Mt. Silver. Now that I think about it...didn't Sabrina mention about me being a Marked? No, she's got to be mistaken. Though, there's not a whole lot of people that do understand Pokémon speech who aren't carrying a Legendary Mark,_ I pondered. I started feeling my phone going off and pulled it out. "AJ? Why is she calling?" I picked up. "Hello?"

"Yusei, I've got a big question. Is Ren with you?" she asked. Her tone sounded like she was panicking.

"No, I was just about to head over, though. Why?"

"Oh Arceus, this can't be happening..."

"AJ, calm down and tell me what's going on."

"I can't find Ren! I came back home and he was just _gone_!"

"What? What about his partners?"

"Most of them are here. Arceus, why didn't I think of calling Eric or Jazz to make sure he wouldn't sneak out?!"

"AJ, tell me where he usually goes to be alone. I'll look around at the nearest ones and you look at the others."

"Okay...okay. That can work..."

"We'll find him before anything happens, don't worry." _I say that, but I'm even_ more _worried..._

(Scene Shift- Ren's POV)

I set Mac on the ground, letting him explore close by while I sat on the bench. Not many people were at this part of the park, so it's a good place for me to clear my head. Especially with all the shit I've been putting up with the last couple of years. _What am I doing...what happened to the version of me that wouldn't take any bad talking about the way I train my partners? Everyone expects me to be the overly confident guy that rushes into battle when it involves the people I love, but..._

"Thought you'd be here," a familiar voice said. I looked up to see that it was Ace, only he was in his outside of work clothes (a pair of jeans and a green shirt with some maroon spots on his chest; kind of like when a Quilava doesn't have their fire lit).

"Ace? What are you doing back in New Domino?" I asked.

"Could ask you the same thing." He walked up and sat next to me on the bench. "I came back to visit Jazz and she told me you were in a bit of a slump. Did something happen?"

I sighed. "You could say that..." I told him about the battle I had against Red on Mt. Silver, and what he had said to me while I struggled with beating his Lapras. "Even though I managed to beat him, I have to wonder if I'm even doing this Trainer thing right. Am I doing more harm than good to my partners? I thought I would know if I took a break, have time to sort through what he told me, but I'm more lost than ever!"

"Ren, I hate to say this, but Red hasn't been all he's cracked up to be the last couple years. Blaine was talking to me after your match against him—he had quite a bit to say with how well your partners performed—and he mentioned he wished Red had stayed the same way. Apparently, he got in with the wrong crowd and started training only Pokémon that he believed were the strongest. Of course, it doesn't seem like he's too far gone as he kept his first partner, Pikachu, the same."

"How's that supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's supposed to help because you've been training Pokémon that _you_ want to train. Not what others believe are good or have the best stats out of them all. Red's just saying what he did because he's forgotten what it's been like to work with the Pokémon he wants to train, not the ones who are best of the best."

"..." I sighed. "You aren't going to let up on this, are you?"

"But of course. You didn't think Jazz was the only persistent one, did you?"

"Well-"

He ruffled my hair, making me laugh a bit. "There it is."

"What?"

"The genuine Ren-smile I like seeing."

"Tch, come on, I smile all the time."

"Well, not like you used to. Not before..." He stopped himself.

I know whose name he was about to say...Micheal. Someone I thought was a perfect boyfriend...but he only wanted to take from me. I didn't realize it until he took something which could never be returned. That's what Ace tried working on helping me get over while we were together. Though, it didn't work out as well as we hoped, partly due to Ace not having a whole lot of patience with my stubbornness. So, really, we broke up more on that than he couldn't be by my side when I need him.

"Anyway...I don't know what I'm going to do if I do continue..."

"How about this? Just slow down, don't rush through all the Gyms like you're on a sugar high, and enjoy adventuring around for once. Maybe have some friends travel with you to some of the towns."

"I guess that could work."

"Start with your new friend, Yusei."

"I...don't know if he'd want to go after the debacle with Red."

"Hmm...how about you ask him yourself." Ace nodded to the path on the left of us.

"Huh?"

"Ren!" **"Oh, thank Arceus, there he is!"** I heard voices call. I turned toward them to see Yusei and Argen running up.

"Yusei? Argen? What are you doing here?" I asked, getting up from the bench.

They stopped once I got up, Yusei bending over a bit to pant while glaring up at me. "What are we- What are _you_ doing here, Ren? AJ sounded like she had a near panic attack on the phone!"

"Oh...I thought I'd beat her back home..." I rubbed the back of my head while I said this. I thought she'd be out longer, but I guess not.

He sighed, standing upright. "I swear, if you don't give your sister a heart attack, _I'll_ have one."

"Aw, didn't know you cared _that_ much," I teased.

"Well...I better get going before Tempest tears up the hotel room. I'll see you guys later," Ace said, standing up. "Oh, Ren. You might want to tell Yusei your decision." He left.

"Decision?" Yusei asked.

"Mac, come here!" The Tepig came running up from the bushes. I picked him up. "Right. Well...I've decided it's time to go to Unova."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've spent enough time moping around, and I need to get back on track. Besides, Unova might hold some background info on my Legendary Mark."

"We're still going to have to catch up with your sister, though."

"I know...hope she's feeling a bit merciful this time..."

(Scene Shift- A Few Days Later)

Turns out...AJ was pretty mad when we got back, judging from how hard she slapped me and yelled. I knew I should have left a note. Or should have made sure one of my partners would tell her I was okay (apparently, Ciel convinced the others to not say anything to AJ for whatever reason...guess he was mad when I didn't listen to his pep talk). After spending a few days in lock down, as I called it, it was time to head for Unova.

It took a bit of thinking, but I thought it was best to have my two teams from Kalos, Johto, and Kanto stay behind for rest. Cross did protest along with Naomi. They thought it'd be better to have more experienced fighters to come along in case any shady business came up. While it did cross my mind, I knew we'd be okay. I mean, who would be crazy enough to try anything funny with a giant Luxray glaring down at them? I know I wouldn't (then again...it is me we're talking about...scratch that, then).

"You made sure you got everything?" AJ asked.

"Yep," I replied.

"Map, phone, Pokédex, contacts?"

"Yes yes, I've got all of that!"

"What about your m-"

"AJ, I told you, I don't _need_ those anymore. I'm feeling much better and I haven't been in a serious depression in a while."

An eyebrow rose. "Really?"

"That was a slump, AJ. I didn't feel the urge to hurt myself, did I?"

"I guess not." She sighed. "Maybe I'm over thinking this. I've been hearing over the news about a Team Plasma running amok in Unova, especially with what they're looking for."

"That is..?"

"The Tao Dragons. They're trying to resurrect at least one of them for their 'King' and change the way people think and feel. If they find out you're carrying their mark..."

"Look, I'll have Yusei traveling with me the whole way. Maybe I'll run into Eric or Jazz there, too. Besides, if I stay here any longer, I'll run the risk of running into our parents."

"Still mad, then."

"AJ, they literally flat out told me to just give up on my dream. I'm not about to quit when I've gotten this far already. One way or another, I'll become a powerful Trainer on my own terms. If they can't accept that, then there's no point in trying to talk with them."

"Well, all right then. I'll try to head out to Unova too once I finish helping Kalin get his team back." She pulled up her right arm, pulling back the sleeve to reveal her Mark of Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga. "We might have to call upon any help we can find. The Tao Trio are nothing to mess with, that's for sure."

"As long as it isn't the Originals*, we'll be fine. I doubt we need to call upon any of the Legendary 'mons unless the situation becomes dire. Anyway, I better get going before Yusei starts thinking I ditched him."

AJ chuckled. "Yeah, don't want your boyfriend to worry now, do we?"

" _Alyssa Jessie Mori!_ " She laughed at my now red face. I don't know why she got it in her head that we started dating. I mentioned once while training prior to the Red battle that I was getting to know him a bit more over the phone and now she won't quit teasing me (of course, she refrained during my slump, but it looks like it's back on now). "Ugh, I don't tease _you_ about people you seem to be getting to know better."

"That's 'cause I have better ammo. And I know you better than you do. Well, get going!" She started pushing on my back

"Fine fine. Just be sure to transfer my teams over to Chelsea's ranch!"

"I will, don't worry. Now hurry up and leave before I change my mind."

"Didn't realize you were that lonely."

"Get going before I bring out Darko**."

"I'm leaving!" I hurried right out, not even wanting to deal with Darko.

(Scene Shift- Unova, Accumula Town- Yusei's POV)

We stepped out of the portal to a less populated part of Accumula Town. Ren recalled the Hoopa Ring onto his wrist. "Whew, almost was worried it wouldn't work," Ren sighed.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing! Well, time to go look for the next member of the team, bye!" Ren quickly picked up his Tepig Mac and hurried off.

"He put a gamble on coming straight here, didn't he?"

"Lux," Argen replied.

"Well, let's go get some supplies while Ren is playing in the grass. It'd give us a chance to look around, anyway."

"Lux Luxray."

Argen and I headed for the Pokémon Center. Once getting some supplies from the store, we headed out to wait for Ren to come back when we noticed a large gathering in the square. "Huh? What's that?"

"Ray..?"

We got as close as we could, only making it to the edge. I saw a group standing on the small incline in front of the crowd. Most of the people on the incline had outfits looking like knights of old, but one of them was a green-haired man with one red eye looking at the crowd (the other was covered by what seemed to be some sort of eyepiece) and wearing multi-colored robes. Two flags stood beside the group with a large 'p' on a shield design.

The robed man started talking about Pokémon liberation. _Wait...didn't I hear that there was a group in Unova doing this so-called liberation? By stealing? I think they called themselves Team Plasma. But this group sounds like they're being sincere. Maybe a split in their group?_ I thought throughout the speech.

Of course, I couldn't help but think of what Argen's thinking. I was always sure I could tell what he was thinking without the need to actually understand his speech. _Am I just forcing Argen to stay with me? Did he feel he_ had _to stay with me just because?_ Argen must have noticed I was looking at him as he pointed at the man giving the speech with a paw and brought it back to cover his mouth as he yawned. _No way. He had a lot of times he could have become wild both in Satellite and when Jack stole him. If he didn't want to stay, he'd be gone by now._ I scratched behind his ears making the Luxray purr.

Ren came up just as the group left and the crowd dissipated. "Okay, I'm back! What'd I miss?" he asked. Mac wasn't the only one beside him. A Lillipup was following close behind.

"Not much. You just missed hearing a speech about Pokémon liberation," I replied. Argen nodded.

"Liberation? Isn't that-?"

"What Team Plasma claims? Yeah, but it wasn't like the group here was trying to get people to release their Pokémon by stealing them or by force, so I kind of wonder if there isn't a split group."

"Could be. Hard to-"

"Hey, aren't you Ren Mori?" a Trainer asked, walking up. He had brown hair, covered mostly by a cap, and brown eyes. On his shoulder was a green snake-like Pokémon, a Snivy.

"Yeah, I am."

"Shoot! Here I was hoping to fight and I don't even have a team set up yet!"

"Ah, well, there's always the League when they open their doors. Anyway, who are you?"

"Oh right. My name's Touya and this is my partner, Rosaline."

"Sni."

"Nice to meet you then, Touya, Rosaline. Mac here's my partner for this region and I just caught Eli here a moment ago. These are my traveling partners Yusei and Argen."

"Hi," I greeted.

"Lux."

"Are Luxrays normally that big..?"

"No, just Argen." I patted Argen's head. "He got a huge growth spurt once he evolved and the silver marking on his face became more prominent."

"Lux Luxray!"

"Sni Snivy."

"Huh? Oh, shoot! I've got to get going! Cheren will kill me if I don't catch up with him and Bianca at Striaton, bye!" Touya went off.

"Striaton, huh? That's where the first Gym is at." Ren stretched his arms over his head, making me realize that his sleeves were rolled up and his mark was exposed. "Heard they have a reputation among people who get their starter Pokémon here to always choose the advantage."

"Sounds challenging. Hey, is it okay to have your mark out like that?"

"Oh." He pulled his arms down, looking at his right one. "Well, it can't be _bad_ , really. There's not many people around here right now."

"True. We better head out now before it gets dark."

"Right, don't want to disturb any sleeping 'mons. Let's go, Mac, Eli!"

(Scene Shift- Striaton City, Next Day)

"Okay, according to sources, Cress is the one I'll have to fight 'cause of Mac being Fire-type," Ren said aloud. "Hrmm...but there isn't a way to get a Grass or Electric-type yet..."

"How many Pokémon is he going to have on hand?" I asked.

"Two. A Panpour and a Lillipup."

"...what? I thought he's supposed to be a Water-type user."

"He is, but this is only the first Gym after all. They can't exactly use a full team against the new Trainers here. They have to be 'somewhat' fair."

"Okay then."

"Only thing I can think of that _could_ work is having Mac face the Lillipup and then have Eli face the Panpour. They both might be slightly handicapped in their main attacking departments, but they can still hit hard enough for this early in the match. Hmm...maybe if I used some sort of status..."

"I'd suggest using moves that lower defense," a new voice stated.

"Great! Wait, who said that?"

"Still as perceptive as ever. Over here." We both looked to see a guy around our age with silvery hair and pale skin. He wore sunglasses over his eyes.

"Eric! You never told me you were coming to Unova!" Ren exclaimed, standing up.

"Well, the weather isn't going to be too terrible here, and I'm traveling with a friend here." He sat down at the table. "I'm guessing you got out of your slump, then?"

"Ehh...sort of? I mean, I haven't given up, so that's a sign."

"Um, Ren? Who's this?" I asked, feeling a bit lost.

"Oh right. This is Eric, my best friend. I told you a bit about him before along with Jazz. Eric, this is-"

"Yusei, right?"

"How did you-"

"Akiza's told me quite a bit about you. We're training over at the Dreamyard but ran out of supplies. I came back in town to get some."

"Dreamyard, huh? We might be able to find you another Pokémon over there, Yusei," Ren said.

"Sounds good."

 **A/N: Okay, a bit shorter than the previous chapters, but I wanted to get this chapter up before I went back to Split Destinies for a few chapters. Maybe work on another story as well. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Ren: (Unova) Mac (Tepig, Bold nature), Eli (Lillipup, Calm nature)**

 **Yusei: Argen (Luxray, Jolly nature), Jason (Buizel, Rash nature)**

 ***- To explain why there are Legendary Pokémon that can be caught, there are the 'Originals' that can NOT be caught and are more powerful than the rest of their species. The best way to tell the Originals from the rest of their species is they'll have markings covering their bodies (if they're a species that already has markings, like Groudon, then the markings will be much different).**

 ****- Darko is a Hydreigon and one of AJ's signature Pokémon. Early on in the various other Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's crossovers I've made, I made a joke that Ren hates Hydreigons, often calling them three-headed death dragons, mostly 'cause he hates that AJ sics Darko on him...and covering him in dragon drool.**


	5. Jumping Hurdles

**A/N: Well, who all missed this story? Time for the next chapter! Originally, the next chapter would have skipped to Castelia City, but I decided I better show what all happens in the Dreamyard and while Ren and Yusei travel with Eric and Akiza. I'd also appreciate some suggestions for teams for the rest of the _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_ characters if you guys have some. I haven't planned out full teams just yet, so that should give enough time for a bit of feedback (besides, I've got a feeling I'm going to be working on this story far into 2018 X'D; at least I have an idea of how this story ENDS). I'll list out what the characters have so far on their rosters at the end of chapters when they appear (and also what Pokémon appear with them).**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Pokémon nor _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's._ Both go to their respective owners. I only own my OCs.**

 **Chapter 5- Jumping Hurdles:**

(Yusei's POV)

"Okay, there's no way a Hydreigon could beat a Gardevoir. They're way too fast!" Ren told Eric. They were having a small argument over a battle Eric had been at.

"Holding a Roseli Berry or Focus Sash?" Eric countered.

"...okay, so it _could_ survive one hit at least, but it couldn't knock out the Gardevoir. Shadow Ball is a Ghost-type move. And last I checked, Hydreigon is _Dark and Dragon_."

"What about one that _you_ would have trained?"

"...can you even see me training one of those three headed death dragons?"

"Three headed death dragon? You're not that mad about AJ's Darko again, are you?"

"He slobbers on me! And don't tell me you wouldn't get _that_ nervous with teeth that big close to your face!"

"I've seen Gyarados with bigger teeth than that."

"They certainly have an interesting friendship," I said to Argen. He nodded.

The Dreamyard used to be a research facility finding out information on dreams. However, it was abandoned years ago, and now not much is left of the building, and wild Pokémon roam about it freely. I read that it's one of the few places to find wild Munna, a Psychic-type associated with dreams.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to deal with him gro-"

" _Rio_!" A blue blur ran past and tackled into Ren.

"Gah!" His face met the ground before we could get through the gate, a Riolu sitting on his back. "*groan*I thought you said Jael was a companion 'mon, Eric!"

"Well, I did get her from Chelsea. Jael, come here," Eric said.

"Lu!" The Riolu, Jael, jumped off of Ren's back and ran up to Eric.

"But that's a bit odd."

"What?" Ren grumbled, standing back up and rubbing his back.

"I left Jael in her ball when I went to get some supplies. How did she-" He didn't get to finish as a Sandile came flying off from somewhere and slammed into the wall near us.

"Holy shit! Where did that come from?!"

"My guess, that direction," I replied.

"How do you know-" Ren got cut off when a red beam hit the Sandile and pulling it in. "...don't even think about retorting, Fudo."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

We followed where the beam of light came from, finding not only Akiza but two members of the Team Plasma group from earlier. "H-How can a Psychic-type Pokémon be that strong?!" one said.

"Espe," Akiza's Espeon, Esmeralda, hissed. The glow from the jewel on her head indicated she had launched an attack.

"It's called being a good Trainer. Now are you going to back off, or do I have to tell Esme to switch to her Psychic-type moves?" Akiza warned. Esmeralda let out a low hiss to confirm.

I motioned for Argen to go behind them since they didn't happen to notice us. He nodded, sneaking behind them. "We came here on a mission and we will not leave until-!" Argen cut them off with a growl and huff. "There's something behind us, isn't there?"

Once they turned, Argen's lips curled to show off his fangs. That's when they noticed us not too far from them. "I'd suggest leaving, or do you think you can take on a few more battles?" To emphasize, Ren and Eric pulled out a Poké ball each from their belts.

"You...You Trainers won't get away with this for long! Just wait until Team Plasma gets their way!" Both the Plasma members ran off.

"Us Trainers? What do they consider themselves then?" Ren muttered.

"You okay?" I asked Akiza.

"Yeah, their Pokémon could barely land an attack on Esme anyway," she replied.

"Esp!" Esmeralda agreed with a nod.

"What were they doing here, anyway?" Eric asked. "This place hasn't been in use for decades and I'd hardly believe they'd even _try_ taking your partners."

"While they did threaten that when I confronted them, they were attacking a Munna for the Dream Mist. And not in the same way as a Pokémon battle. One of them even kicked the poor thing."

"What?! They attacked the Munna _themselves_?! Are they trying to get the police on their asses?!" Ren exclaimed.

"Ow, Ren. You don't need to shout," Eric scolded, rubbing his ear.

"Sorry, but come on! How can they even resort to that? If a Trainer did that, then they'd risk getting their license revoked and put in jail."

"Mun...?" a timid voice whimpered. A little Munna looked around from a broken wall.

"Is that-?"

"The Munna? Yeah. I doubt they're going to want any humans around after that little experience," Akiza replied.

"Hmm..." Ren snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He pulled out one of the two Poké balls on his belt. "Mac, come out."

Mac shook his head, blinking and looking up at Ren. "Tep..?"

Ren pulled out a pouch and took out an Oran Berry. He bent down to Mac's level. "Here, mind giving this to the Munna over there? They could use it after what they went through."

"Tepig!" He took the berry, walking over to the Munna and offering it. The Psychic-type hesitated but floated down to take the berry from him. "Tep Tep."

"Mun..."

"At least he's comfortable around other Pokémon even if they're not native."

"How do you know that Munna is a boy?" I asked.

"Duh, his voice. Though judging from the pitch, he's pretty young. Hardly past adolescence." He turned to Akiza. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm-"

"Ren, I know. Yusei, Eric, and AJ talk about you a lot."

"They do? Wait...you know my sister?"

"Yep."

"...okay, now I'm convinced she knows half of New Domino at this point."

"Says the guy who hardly stays for more than two days," Eric put in.

Ren lightly glared at him. "You know I have a reason for that. And besides, it's not like I _never_ go there."

"Good point. At any rate, we better start in on some strategies for your Gym battle coming up. I know those triplets aren't going to be easy to beat, especially since you battle the one with a type advantage over your starter."

"Yeah, don't remind me. Mac and Eli are going to need some serious training before we can even think about taking on Cress."

"What's your strategy so far?" Akiza asked.

"Well...if all goes well...Mac against the Lillipup and Eli against the Panpour. If all hell breaks loose, I'm going to have to go with Plan B. Hope whoever is still able to fight can take on a Work Up boosting 'mon."

"Then we better get to work."

(Scene Shift- A Few Days Later- Ren's POV)

The next few days were spent training Mac and Eli to be ready for the Gym battle. Eric suggested we use Jason, Yusei's Buizel, to help get the two trained to be ready to face a Water-type. While Mac had initial difficulty (considering his disadvantage), he soon got used to being hit with the Water-type moves. He also learned Flame Charge which could come in handy to increase his speed against the Panpour if need be. Hopefully, with a few uses of Flame Charge, he could out-speed the Lillipup and attack first before they did with a boosted attack.

The Striaton Gym operated a bit differently than regional first Gyms I've been to. Other than the obvious, you didn't need to make a reservation ahead of time for the battle. The Gym worked as a restaurant, so you and your partners could eat before facing the Gym Leaders while waiting for your turn. I was thankful that it was a slow season, or we'd have been waiting for most of the day. When Eric started his journey in Unova, he said he was waiting for a good _seven hours_ before he went to fight Chili.

"Will Ren Mori please come to the stage?" the intercom called.

"Well...here goes nothing," I muttered.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Yusei. "You'll do fine, don't worry," he said.

 _I hope you're right,_ I thought. I nodded at him, recalling Mac and Eli back to their Poké balls. I headed onto the stage.

"Welcome, Ren. We've been wondering when you'd come here," the green-haired brother, Cilan, greeted.

"So, what's your starter?" the red-haired brother, Chili, asked.

"I have a Tepig that I took in before coming here."

"Ah man. I was hoping to fight the guy that faced that Red guy." _Geez, does everyone to Alola know that I fought Red and won? I'd better get used to hearing that._ "Well, you'll be fighting against Cress."

The blue-haired brother, Cress, bowed a little. "Pleasure to meet you, Ren. I hope you'll perform well in this fight," he said.

"Yeah." We walked to the edges of the stage arena. Cilan and Chili stood off to the side. _Hope the strategy works..._ "Go, Mac!"

"Lillipup, go!"

Mac appeared on the field along with Cress's Lillipup. Mac gulped a little, but he quickly erased the nervousness from his features. "Mac, let's start this off strong! Flame Charge!"

" **Right!"** He focused his energy, flames coming from his snout to engulf his body.

"Lillipup, Work Up and quick!"

" **Okay!"** The Lillipup threw his head back and howled. A red-orange aura surrounded him as Mac tackled hard into him with his attack. Said Tepig also glowed but with a less intense aura.

 _That hit was strong, but probably not strong enough for a quick take down. Let's hope he doesn't go for any attacks yet and gets greedy with the boosts._ "Keep up the pressure with Flame Charge!"

"Work Up once again!"

Mac managed to strike first before the Lillipup could focus. He was sent spiraling onto the ground, but it wasn't enough damage for a complete knock-out. Cress used a Potion on him as Mac struck again. With the boosts in speed, he managed to knock the Lillipup out of the match before he could attack.

"Well done, but I hope you brought a counter to my strongest Pokémon." Cress sent out his Panpour. The Water-type looked ready for an easy win against Mac.

"Mac, return!" I recalled him back to his ball. Then I unclipped Eli's ball from my jacket. "Your turn, Eli!"

As soon as he appeared on the field, Eli let out a short howl and got into a battle ready position. _Better weaken his defenses first._ "Eli, Leer!"

"Panpour, Work Up!"

Eli glared down at the Water-type monkey, but not before he used the attack boosting move. He turned to me worriedly. **"What should I do now?!"**

"Stay calm and switch to offense. Tackle!"

"Water Gun!"

Panpour hit Eli with a jet of water, not nearly bringing his strength down to half, while Eli tackled into him with as much force as he could muster. It did a good amount of damage, but we still need to stay on our toes. "Tackle again!"

"Water Gun!"

Eli charged at Panpour. However, before he could hit, Panpour sent Eli flying across the battlefield. He smacked hard into the ground, struggled to get up, and collapsed in a faint. _Shit shit shit! That must have been a critical 'cause it wasn't doing nearly_ that _much damage to him! Mac, let's hope the training against Jason helped improve your defenses._ "Eli, return! Mac, let's finish this battle!"

Eli returned to his ball in a flash of red light and Mac came back out in a flash of white light. His eyes widened at his opponent. **"I-I have to face him now?!"**

"Don't worry. We had that special training for a reason, right? You can do this!"

" ***gulp* Hope you're right..."**

"Flame Charge! We've got to increase your speed and quick!"

"Use Water Gun, Panpour, before they get a chance!"

" **Right!"**

" **Got it!"**

Mac charged, flames covering his body as the Panpour let loose another stream of water. Even though it did do damage, the flames helped to block part of the damage with their heat. He tackled hard into Panpour, not doing too much damage but managing to increase his own speed.

 _Now let's hope it's enough to out-speed._ "Mac, Tackle with all your might!"

"Panpour, finish this fight with Water Gun!"

Panpour sucked in a breath, getting ready to unleash his attack, when Mac sped right into him and all but body slammed him. The Water Gun (and his breath) left in a whoosh above Mac's head, not even hitting him. He collapsed onto the ground, fainted.

"And that's it! The victory goes to the challenger, Ren Mori!" Cilan announced.

"Never thought I'd see a Panpour go down to a Fire-type that quickly," Chili mused.

Cress recalled his fallen Panpour. "Good job. You've certainly shown that you're capable of getting the upper hand despite the disadvantage," he said.

"Ah, thanks, but I doubt I would have been able to win without a bit of training with my friends," I replied, scratching the back of my head.

"At any rate, this is yours. The Trio Badge." Cress walked up and handed me the badge. "Proof that you've beaten one of the triplet Gym Leaders."

"Thank you." I clutched the badge in my hand. Now I was on the road to beating my fourth Pokémon League.

(Scene Shift- Route 3- Yusei's POV)

"My first Unova badge," Ren said, looking in the badge case.

"Congrats. That was a pretty close match back there," Eric replied.

"Yeah...I think my heart's still racing." Ren's shoulders slumped a little as he said this.

"The next Gym will be in Nacrene. Eric and I will go with you both to there, but we'll have to part ways after," Akiza announced.

"What? Why?"

"Well, for starters, I'm having to be an act-in Champion while Alder is still traveling around. And with this time of year, a lot of people will be coming in to face the League early. I can only be gone for a certain amount of time before going back," Eric explained.

"Aw, that sucks."

"Where is Alder, anyway?" I asked. "If he's supposed to be the Champion of this region, then why are you having to fill in?"

"Well, for a lot of reasons. He recently lost one of his closest Pokémon partners and he's still hurting to this day. He's been traveling around Unova to help keep his mind off of it. Since I was one of the Trainers who impressed him the most when I challenged him, he offered me to fill in while he was away."

"That's understandable. If something ever happened to Cross, I don't know what'd I do."

"Same with Argen and me." Argen gave a purr when I finished.

"Okay, so we got Eric's explanation, what about you, Akiza?"

"Someone's got to make sure he doesn't get roughed up by Team Plasma while they're a threat," she teased Eric.

"I'm not scared of them. Only thing _I'm_ worried about is how they'd react to finding our marks," he retorted.

"What do you mean?"

"Last I had a run-in with one of them, he exclaimed that their 'King' would be most pleased with bringing in a person with a Legendary's mark. Needless to say, Eliana gave him a piece of her mind and he ran off screaming."

"I was wondering why you were wearing bandages on your arm without it being injured," Ren mused.

"Yeah. We decided to keep our marks covered, just in case," Akiza added.

"You have a mark too? What is it?"

"Virizion's."

"A Sword of Justice, wow."

"At any rate, you'll have to keep your mark covered too, Ren. Especially yours. Zekrom, Reshiram, and Kyurem originated here. They'll try to kidnap you to be able to have all three under their control," Eric warned.

"Hate to tell them this, but I can't summon them at all. I haven't even felt a bit of their consciousnesses in the least bit," Ren replied.

 _Wait, what?_ I thought. "Summon them?"

"I forgot to tell you about that, huh? Some people with Legendary's marks can summon them. However, it requires you to make a connection with the Legendary and that's a difficult task as it is. So far, out of my friends and I, I'm the only one who can't."

 _I wonder...did that group chasing after him when we first met know that, or is that information not shared with anyone who doesn't have a Legendary's mark? The Tao Trio are strong on their own, but the Original Dragon is a different story. Only one of its moves has ever been recorded, and it could cause heavy amounts of damage depending on the opponent. The last thing we need is for them to have that sort of power._

"We better get going. It'll get dark soon and we'll need to reach Nacrene before- _gack!_ " Ren yelped, falling face-first into the ground.

"Ren?! What happened?"

"*groan* Why does everything have to pounce on meeee..?"

"Cubchoo Choo!" the small blue and white Pokémon cried. Argen walked up and picked the Pokémon off of Ren's back. "Cub!"

"That's odd. Cubchoo aren't native to this part of the region, and they should be in hibernation by now," Eric said.

I helped Ren back up. "You okay?"

"I'm gonna have back problems before I'm thirty," he muttered.

"Ren, mind talking with the Cubchoo that tackled you? He might feel a bit more comfortable with telling you why he did that than us."

"Yeah, hold on." Ren took the Ice-type from Argen. "Okay, little guy, can ya tell me why you decided to body slam me into the ground?"

"Cub Cub Cubchoo. Cubchoo Choo Cub Choo."

"Wait, what? Really?"

"Cub." The Cubchoo nodded.

"Why would your Trainer release you? Did they give a reason?"

The Cubchoo's head shook no. "Choo...Cubhoo."

"I see. Well, looks like those Team Plasma guys' way of thinking reached a few Trainers' heads. This little guy got released not too long ago, and I bet that that's why."

"But out _here_ in the middle of summer? That's not exactly a good idea," Akiza said.

"No, but I guess when you hear that humans are mistreating Pokémon and feel guilty, you kind of throw out logic."

"What should we do? Go to the Pokémon Center and see if the nurse knows anyone who can take him to a better route?" Eric questioned.

"Hmm...actually, I've got a better idea." Ren set the Cubchoo down, reaching into his bag. "Hey, Cubchoo. How do you feel about joining my team?"

"Cub?"

"Don't worry, if you feel like you don't want to be with another Trainer, we can go to the Center and see if they can't get you to a route more favorable than here." He pulled out a Poké ball, bending down to the Cubchoo's level. "What do ya say, pal?" He held the ball out.

The Cubchoo looked up at him and then to the Poké ball. "Cubchoo!" He pressed the paw onto the ball and disappeared into it with a red light.

"Sweet! Now I won't have to wait until winter for one."

"You sure you're going to be able to handle a Beartic, Ren? You know how big those things get," Eric said.

"Pff, if I can handle a freakin' Tyranitar, I think I can handle a Beartic."

"Good point." He clipped the ball onto his belt. "I'll ask what he wants his name to be later. Right now, we better-"

" _Help!_ "

(Ren's POV)

We all stopped what we were doing when we heard the scream. "What's going on?" Eric asked.

"Help! My Pokémon's been stolen!" cried a young girl. Not too far from her, running away, were some of those Team Plasma goons like from the Dreamyard.

"Oh, that's it. Get back here, ya hypocrites!" I chased after them. First that attack on the poor Munna, now this? They are so gonna get it.

"Ren, wait up!" I heard Eric call behind me, but I didn't slow down one bit. I was too angry to even think straight. I wanted to beat the hell out of them instead of fighting them in a Pokémon battle. Seriously, who steals a kid's Pokémon like that?! That's like stealing their friend!

We managed to corner them in Wellspring Cave. "All right, you bastards. Give us the kid's Pokémon and I _might_ reconsider kicking your asses into the Distortion World," I growled out.

"Yeah right! We've liberated this Pokémon from a cruel human. There's no way we're handing it back!" one of them retorted. A Lillipup whined from under his arm

"Yes, because a nine year old is _so_ capable of being cruel," Eric replied. "Just give 'em back, or my friend here will go supernova."

"Like we'd listen to a pair of Trainers. We'll liberate your Pokémon as well!" the other said, tossing a Poké ball at the same time as their partner. Out of the white light came a Krookodile and Scrafty.

"Want a battle? Fine. Let's go with you, Cr-" I reached to the other side of my belt, expecting to find Cross's Poké ball there...only to find nothing but air. _Oh crap, I forgot!_

"Ren, what are you waiting for. Call Cross out!" Eric had sent out his Serperior Eliana onto the battlefield.

"I, uh, might have forgotten to mention that I sent both of my previous teams to stay at Chelsea's ranch over in Kanto..."

He gave me a blank face before his palm met his face. "You've got to be kidding..."

" **Eric, some help would be appreciated right now,"** Eliana hissed, not turning away from the two Pokémon on the opposite side.

"I'll send Lauren out to help you. This might end up not being as long as I thought," he sighed, pulling out an Ultra Ball from his belt. _Welp...I screwed up badly..._

(Scene Shift- Yusei's POV)

"Thank you for helping me calm her down," the teacher sighed.

"It's no problem," I replied. _Though, judging from the looks Jason is giving me, I don't think he was intending on becoming a plush toy for a kid,_ I added mentally. Said Buizel wasn't looking too happy with me, giving me a look that said 'why would you do this to me.'

"Our friends will bring back her Lillipup, don't worry," Akiza added.

The teacher left to check how the other children were. _Maybe we should have gone with them. If those Plasma grunts have Pokémon that Ren's partners can't handle-_ "Hey."

"Hm?"

"How have things been with Ren?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I've told you what we had done and talked about when we got back from Mt. Silver."

"That's not what I meant. I mean has he been doing okay?"

"Oh. It's a bit hard to say. I think he's still taking what Red said to heart, but he won't tell me what _all_ he had said."

"Whatever it was, it had to be bad enough to shake his confidence as a Trainer. Whenever AJ talked about him, she comments how he had faith that he was taking the right route as a Trainer even during his battle plans. Though, I guess he got a bit more sensitive since that event before he finished Johto."

"Ye- wait, _before_ he finished Johto? Shouldn't it be when he got Cross as a Fennekin?"

Akiza looked at me, confused. "No, I'm pretty sure it was the event when he was still traveling in Johto. Didn't he tell you about it?"

"N-"

"We're back!" a voice called. Ren came up along with Eric. "And holy crud, were those grunts not messing around."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say that apparently the Team Plasma goons we chased after were a bit higher up on the pecking order. They had fully evolved Pokémon to battle with."

"Speaking of that, why didn't you think to bring Cross and the others, Ren?" Eric asked.

"I just wanted to travel a region without needing to rely on my older teams is all."

"Ren, if these guys have grunts with stronger Pokémon on them, you'll _have_ to have your stronger partners to be able to fight them. They're not messing around here."

"Okay okay. Give me at least until I get the third badge and I'll call Chelsea to send Cross and the others over. Naomi and the others can get a bit of rest for now."

Eric sighed. "Fine. I'm going to give the Lillipup back and then we'll get back on the road."

"Fair enough."

As Eric went to deliver the Lillipup back, I thought on what Akiza had mentioned. Was there something else that happened to Ren that he was needing to recover from? And why didn't he mention it to me? How many more hurdles does he still need to clear before he can move forward?

 **Ren (Unova): Mac (Tepig, Bold Nature), Eli (Lillipup, Calm Nature), ? (Cubchoo, Careful Nature)**

 **Yusei: Argen (Luxray, Jolly Nature), Jason (Buizel, Rash Nature)**

 **Eric: Eliana (Serperior, Calm Nature), Lauren (Volcarona, Mild Nature), ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Akiza: Esmeralda "Esme" (Espeon, Quirky Nature), ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **A/N: Wow, this took a while to bring out, right? XD Sorry about the wait. I kind of went in and out of this story for a while as far as inspiration went. I got to working mostly on the oneshot series Surprising Each Other along with some other upcoming/working on fanfictions. I've also started a little project for a regular Pokémon fanfiction which I hope to post up soon. I'm debating a few things with it, but hopefully it won't keep it too long from being posted. In the mean time, if you want to be reading something that has more chapters than this, check out Surprising Each Other if you want to (it's been my outlet for Yusei/Ren romance, soo... XD).**

 **EDIT: Fixed a few typos/missing letters in words. I really need to proofread better. -.-**


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